RISON 


L 


OF 


J 


EPPERSON        ^J  AVIS 


D 


EMBRACING    DETAILS    AND    INCIDENTS    IN    HIS    CAPTIVITY,    PARTI 
CULARS    CONCERNING    HIS     HEALTH     AND    HABITS,    TO 
GETHER    WITH     MANY     CONVERSATIONS     ON 
TOPICS  OF  GREAT  PUBLIC  INTEREST. 


BY 

BVT.  LIEUT.-COL.  JOHN  J.  CRAVEN,  M.D., 

Late  Surgeon  U.  S.  Vols.,  and  Physician  of  the  Prisoner  during  his  Confinement 
in  Fortress  Monroe,  from  May  25,  1865,  up  to  December  25,  1865. 


"  Had  I  died  on  tJte  throne,  enveloped  in  the  dense 
atmosphere  of  power,  I  should  to  many  have  re 
mained  a  problem.  Now,  misfortune  -will  enable 
all  to  judge  me  without  disguise" — NAPOLEON 

BONAPARTE    TO    D.    BAKRY    O'MEARA. 


NEW     YORK : 

Carle  ton,  Publisher,  413  Broadway, 

LONDON  :  S.  Low  SON  &  Co. 
•       MDCCCLXVI. 


mm  *m 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1866,  b> 
GEO.    W.   CARLETON, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  for  the  Southern 
District  of  New  York. 


THE  NEW  YOKK  PRINTING  COMPANY 

81,  83,  and  85  Centre  Street^ 

NEW    YORK. 


To 

THE  HON.  HUGH  McCULLOCH, 

Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
WHO   FIRST 

Of  all  our  Northern  Public  Men 

HAS   HAD  THE    WISDOM,    MAGNANIMITY,    AND    COURAGE 

To  express  Sympathy  for  the  Misfortunes 

OF 

THE   SUBJECT   OF    OUR    MEMOIR, 

BY 

A  Visit  to  Mr.  Davis  in  his  cell  at  Fortress  Monroe, 

THIS    VOLUME  IS  INSCRIBED, 


CONTENTS. 


Page 

CHAPTER  1. 

An  Introduction  by  Anecdote. — The  Old-fashioned  Pre 
face  in  a  New  Dress  .  .  .  .  .  .11 

CHAPTER  II. 
Fortress    Monroe. — The  Ceremonial  of  delivering  Mr. 

Davis  into  Custody. — His  first  Day  in  the  Casemate      21 

CHAPTER  III. 

Placing  Mr.  Davis  in  Irons. — His  Protest  and  his  Strug 
gles. — My  First  Visit  to  the  Prisoner  .  .  -33 

CHAPTER    IV. 

Conversation  with  Mr.  Davis  on  many  Points. — The 
Removal  of  his  Shackles  demanded  as  a  Medical 
Necessity 45 

CHAPTER  V. 

Conversations  of  some  Interest. — The  Shackles  Re 
moved. — Mr.  Davis  on  Various  Scientific  Subjects  58 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Operations  on  the  Southern  Coast. — Davis  Hears  that 
he  is  Indicted  and  to  be  Tried. — His  Joy. — Views 
of  his  own  Defence 74 

CHAPTER   VII. 
Mr.   Davis   on  the   New  England   Character. — Future 

of  the  South  and  Southern  Blacks  ....      90 


viii  Contents. 

Page 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Mr.  Davis  on  Cruelty  to  Prisoners. — Mexico. — Turtle 
on  the  Southern  Coast. — The  Southern  Leaders  an 
Aristocracy. — Lecture  on  the  Fine  Arts,  by  a 
Strange  Man  in  a  Strange  Place  ....  104 

CHAPTER   IX. 

Mr.  Davis  on  Gen.  Butler  and  Dutch  Gap. — He  denies 
that  Secession  was  Treason. — His  opinion  of  Grant, 
McClellan,  Pope,  and  other  Union  Officers  ;  also  of 
Bragg,  Lee  and  Pemberton. — His  Flight  from 
Richmond  and  Arrest 119 

CHAPTER    X. 

Diseases  of  the  Eye. — Guards  removed  from  the  Prison 
er's  Room. —  Mr.  Davis  takes  his  first  Walk  on  the 
Ramparts. — The  Policy  of  Conciliation. — Dr.  Davis 
on  Improvements  in  Land  and  Naval  Warfare  .  146 

CHAPTER   XI. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  Assassination. — Ex-President  Pierce. — 
Torture  of  being  Constantly  Watched. — Mr.  Davis 
on  the  Members  of  his  Cabinet  and  the  Opponents 
of  his  Administration. — Touching  Tribute  to  the 
Memory  of  "  Stonewall  "  Jackson  .  .  .  .163 

CHAPTER   XII. 

Mr.  Davis  seriously  111. — Restrictions  on  Correspondence 
with  his  Wife. — Clement  C.  Clay. — A  Rampart  In 
terview. — Religious  Phase  of  Mr.  Davis' Character  .  183 

CHAPTER   XIII. 

Southern  Migration  to  Mexico. — Mr.  Calhoun's  Mem 
ory  vindicated  from  one  Charge. — Tribute  to  Albert 
Sidney  Johnston. — Failure  of  Southern  Iron-clads 
and  Loss  of  the  Mississippi  .  .  .  .  .199 


Contents.  ix 

Page 
CHAPTER   XIV. 

Mr.  Davis  on  Negro  Character. — The  Assassination  of 
President  Lincoln. — How  the  Prisoner's  Food  was 
Served. — A  Solemn  and  Interesting  Statement  .  214 

CHAPTER   XV. 

Southern  Non-Belligerents. — The  Ant-Lion  and  its 
Habits. — Mr.  Davis  on  the  Future  of  the  Southern 
Blacks .228 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
Mr.    Davis    on    Fenianism. — Highly    Important. — His 

Views  of  Reconstruction          .....     243 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

Mr.  Davis  seriously  111. — Change  of  Quarters  officially 
Recommended. — The  Pictures  and  Poetry  of  the 
Bible.  —  Lafayette's  Imprisonment.  —  Marvellous 
Memory  and  great  Variety  of  Knowledge. — Mr. 
Davis  on  Female  Lecturers. — The  True  Mission  of 
Women 254 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Mr.  Davis  on  Sensation  News. — The  Condition  of  the 
Negro.— Gen.  Butler  at  Drury's  Bluff.— Bishop 
Lynch  and  the  Sisters  of  Charity. — A  Story  after 
the  manner  of  President  Lincoln  ....  275 

CHAPTER   XIX. 

Treason. — State  and  National.— The  Fish-Hawk  and 
Bald-Eagle.— Mr.  Davis  on  Senator  Benton,  F,x- 
President  Buchanan,  and  President  Andrew  John 
son. — Preparations  to  remove  Mr.  Davis  to  Carroll 

Hall 291 

i* 


x  Contents. 

CHAPTER    XX. 
Visit    to    Richmond. — General    Lee. — Mr.    Davis    on 

Horseback  Exercise. — Macaulay's  Pictorial  Power     308 

CHAPTER   XXI. 

Removal  to  Carroll  Hall. — Some  Curious  Coincidences. 
— A  Foolish  Precaution. — Interesting  Letter  from 
Mrs.  Davis. — Adventures  of  the  Family  from  Incar 
ceration  of  Mr.  Davis  up  to  date  ....  323 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

A  New  Regiment  on  Guard. — Ordered  not  to  Commu 
nicate  with  Mr.  Davis,  save  on  "  Strictly  Professional 
Matters." — The  Correspondence  about  Prisoner's 
Overcoat  .........  349 

CHAPTER    XXIII. 
General   Summary   in    Conclusion. — The  Character  of 

Mr.   Davis. — Let  us  be  merciful !     .  368 


THE 


PRISON    LIFE   OF  JEFFERSON   DAVIS, 


CHAPTER  I. 

An  Introduction  by  Anecdote. —  The  Old-fash 
ioned  Preface  in  a  New  Dress. 

LATE  one  sufhmer  evening,  hot,  hungry,  dusty, 
thirsty,  tired,  exasperated,  and  full  of  venge 
ful  thoughts,  I  was  riding  down  the  road  from 
the  bloody  and  resultless  encounter  near  Ber 
muda  Hundreds,  to  where  my  field  hospitals 
had  been  established.  Saul  journeying  to  Da 
mascus,  breathing  out  threatenings  against 
his  enemies,  was  in  no  fiercer  spirit.  The 
day  had  been  oppressively  warm,  our  losses 
enormous,  our  gains  nothing ;  and  worn  out 
with  the  labor  and  wretchedness  of  superin- 


12  The  Prison  Life 

tending  the  removal  of  the  wounded,  I  was 
cantering  wearily  but  rapidly  back  to  where 
many  hundred  sufferers,  in  all  stages  of  man- 
glement,  lay  awaiting  the  painful  remedy  of 
the  surgeon's  art.  Never  before  had  the  re 
bellion,  with  its  attendant  horrors,  appeared  so 
inhuman  to  my  mind  ;  and  if  the  hot  hatreds 
of  my  soul  could  have  taken  shape  in  words, 
I  would  have  exclaimed,  addressing  the  Con 
federates  under  Beauregard  : 

"  Oh,  that  each  slave  had  forty  thousand  lives, 
One  is  too  poor,  too  weak  for  my  revenge  !  " 

Half  way  between  the  battle-field  and  my 
hospitals,  I  overtook  four  of  our  boys  in  blue, 
under  a  corporal,  tenderly  carrying  to  the 
rear  a  stretcher  on  which  lay  a  wounded 
rebel. 

Something  tempted  me  to  halt  and  dis 
mount.  God  forgive  me  if  it  was  a  desire  to 
assure  myself  that  all  the  suffering  had  not 
been  on  our  side.  If  so,  the  unworthy  feel 
ing  was  of  brief  duration  ;  for  no  sooner, 
throwing  the  reins  to  my  orderly,  did  I  stand 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  13 

beside  the  litter  and  gaze  upon  the  pale 
pinched  features  of  the  wounded  man,  than 
all  promptings  of  patriotic  hatred  vanished ; 
and  there  was  nothing  left  in  my  existence 
but  the  deep,  overwhelming  sympathy  of  the 
medical  man  for  a  patient  needing  aid  to  call 
him  back  from  death. 

He  needed  aid,  indeed.  His  left  arm  was 
shot  through  ;  his  right  leg  shattered  and  badly 
mangled  above  the  ankle  ;  his  hip  was  torn 
by  the  fall  of  his  horse,  and  life  appeared  fast 
ebbing.  In  his  horse,  by  the  way,  as  it  fell 
under  him,  there  were  sixteen  bullets.  He 
had  ridden  right  in  on  top  of  the  6th  Conn, 
regiment,  and  our  boys  had  given  him  what 
we  called  "  a  blizzard."  ^ 

"  My  poor  man,"  I  said,  "  you  are  wounded 
nearly  unto  death." 

"  I  feel  it,"  he  faintly  replied.  "  I  am  Gene- 
ral  Walker,  of  Beauregard's  staff.  Let  me 
rest  somewhere,  and  dictate  some  last  words 
to  my  Wife  and  Commander." 

Where  was  my  hatred  now?  Where  the 
fierce  thirst  of  retribution  that  should  have 


14  The  Prison  Life 

looked  on  this  unfortunate's  agony  as  a  just 
judgment  ? 

Giving  him  some  brandy  from  a  pocket- 
flask,  I  told  the  corporal  in  charge  to  carry 
him  to  my  own  tent,  next  General  Gillmore's 
head-quarters  at  Hatcher's  House  ;  and  hastily 
scribbling  a  line  to  my  hospital  steward, 
"  Take  charge — will  be  with  you  soon,"  I  re 
mounted,  and  galloped  off  to  the  sickening 
scenes  always  presented  in  a  field  hospital 
after  a  severe  engagement. 

It  was  midnight,  or  some  little  later,  before 
my  duties  to  the  hundreds  of  our  boys  would 
allow  me  to  visit  the  sufferer  in  my  tent.  His 
case  needed  immediate  amputation  of  the 
lower  leg,  and  there  was  no  sufficient  light 
for  performing  the  operation. 

"  Tear  down  that  smoke-house  and  kindle 
a  big  bonfire,"  was  my  order.  "  We  must  get 
light  somehow,  and  quickly,  or  this  man  will 
die.  He  is  seven-eighths  on  his  way  to  death 
already." 

Never  before  had  I  been  so  painfully  anx 
ious.  The  feeling  arose,  no  doubt,  from  an 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  15 

instinct  of  conscience  punishing  my  unpro 
fessional  thoughts — or  half  thoughts — when 
first  halting  beside  his  litter.  The  man  had 
to  be  saved,  or  an  unhappy  recollection  would 
haunt  my  life.  No  appliance  that  care  or 
skill  could  furnish  must  be  wanting.  It  had 
been  against  Beauregard  all  day  that  my 
anger  had  been  specially  kindled.  I  recalled 
our  first  defeat  at  Bull  Run.  His  memorable 
"  beauty  and  booty"  proclamation.  Was  I 
always  to  witness  defeat  when  opposed  to  this 
enemy  ?  And  it  was  against  Beauregard  and 
all  belonging  to  him,  that  day,  while  the  con 
test  lasted,  that  the  imprecations  of  my  soul, 
if  not  uttered,  had  been  most  vehemently  felt. 

But  here  now  was  a  military  part  of  Beau- 
regard — one  of  his  eyes  or  arms — over  whom 
I  yearned  as  if  with  a  brother's  sympathy. 
My  business  was  to  heal  the  wounded,  not  to 
wound.  By  what  right  had  I  indulged  the 
vengeful  thoughts  which  filled  my  breast 
when  first  meeting  on  the  road  this  shattered 
human  wreck  ? 

The  bonfire  was  soon  blazing,  and  before 


1 6  The  Prison  Life 

the  operation  commenced — as  a  happy  result 
could  scarce  be  hoped — I  procured  an  amanu 
ensis  for  General  Walker,  to  whom  he  hur 
riedly  dictated  two  letters.  They  were  fare 
wells  to  his  Wife  and  General  Beauregard. 
Will  the  loyal  world  think  worse  of  me,  if  I 
confess,  that  while  hearing  the  few  feeble 
whispers  in  which  this  wounded  rebel  commu 
nicated  to  a  strange  soldier  of  the  hostile 
force  what  he  expected  to  be  his  last  words 
on  earth — his  last  messages  to  the  Commander 
he  reverenced,  and  the  Wife  he  was  to  see  no 
more — I  found  an  unusual  moisture  making 
my  sight  uncertain  ? 

General  Walker,  however,  was  not  destined 
to  die.  By  the  flickering  light  of  the  bonfire, 
and  with  the  aid  of  Surgeons  Janeway  and 
Buzelle,  the  amputation  was  successfully  per 
formed,  and  his  other  wounds  properly  treated. 
He  remained  at  once  my  guest  and  patient 
until  sufficiently  restored  for  safe  transfer  to 
the  General  Hospital  at  Fortress  Monroe,  and 
is  now  hopping  around  the  earth  somewhere, 
blythe  and  hearty  on  the  leg  that  is  left  him ; 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  1 7 

perfectly  willing  to  be  "  reconstructed,"  I 
should  imagine,  in  more  senses  than  one;  nor 
any  the  less  likely  in  future  to  make  a  loyal 
citizen,  from  such  recollections  as  he  may  yet 
preserve  of  the  bonfire  and  the  tent,  the 
amanuensis  and  the  attending  doctors  of  that 
midnight  scene. 

This  is  the  material  part  of  my  preface,  and 
contains  the  only  apology  I  shall  offer  in  case 
any  over-sensitively  loyal  readers  may  feel,  or 
affect  to  feel,  shocked  on 'finding  in  the  follow 
ing  pages  some  record  of  the  imprisonment 
of  Jefferson  Davis,  not  written  to  gloat  over 
the  misfortunes  of  a  fallen  enemy — certainly 
not  aiming  to  palliate  his  political  or  other 
errors  ;  but  to  depict  so  much  of  him  as  was 
revealed  to  the  Writer  during  a  medical  attend 
ance  of  many  months  while  Mr.  Davis  lay  a 
prisoner  in  Fortress  Monroe.  Should  any 
such  objectors  be  found,  the  Writer  believes 
himself  safe  in  predicting  that  they  will  be 
drawn  pretty  exclusively  from  that  loyal  class 
who  were  non-belligerent,  except  in  th.e  con 
tracting  line,  and  strictly  non-combatant,  save 


1 8  The  Prison  Life 

for  higher  percentages  of  profit,  during   the 
recent  contest  for  the  Union. 

For  the  rest,  the  following  pages  have  been 
prepared  from  a  conscientious  conviction  of 
duty,  under  the  advice  of  eminent  and  re 
spected  friends,  and  with  the  sanction  of  many 
gentlemen  in  our  public  life,  who  are  not 
more  exalted  by  station  than  by  loyalty,  intel 
ligence,  and  moral  worth. 

The  book  aims  to  introduce  no  discussion 
of  any  political  questions  connected  with  the 
late  rebellion  ;  nor  to  be  a  plea  influencing 
public  judgment,  either  for  or  against,  the 
gentleman  who  was  for  so  many  months  the 
Author's  patient.  It  will  report  him  as  he  was 
seen  during  a  protracted  and  confidential 
medical  attendance,  extenuating  nothing  of 
public  interest,  and  setting  down  naught  in 
malice. 

Of  course,  the  relations  of  physician  and 
patient  have  a  sacredness  of  confidence  which 
the  Writer  would  be  the  last  to  violate  ;  and 
all  such  restrictions,  in  this  volume,  will  be 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  19 

found  rigidly  observed.  No  knowledge  gained 
during  such  relationship  that  might  injure 
Mr.  Davis  if  published,  could  properly  01 
without  flagrant  infidelity,  be  given  to  th 
world  by  his  medical  attendant ;  and  it  is  from 
a  sincere  conviction  that  the  reverse  must 
prove  the  fact,  and  from  a  sincere  personal 
sympathy  and  respect  for  the  subject  of  this 
memoir,  that  the  present  volume  has  been 
undertaken. 

It  may  here  be  proper  to  remark — lest  par- 

j 

tisan  malice  should  attempt  from  interested 
motives  to  distort  the  Writer's  position — that 
he  has  been  through  all  the  years  of  his 
thinking  life  an  earnest  and  active  opponent 
of  slavery,  and  of  all  the  other  cardinal  doc 
trines  on  which  the  leaders  of  the  late  Rebel 
lion  claimed  to  base  their  action.  He  was 
a  member  of  the  Republican  party  from  its 
birth  down  to  the  present  day — an  uncom 
promising  supporter  of  the  Union ;  and  it  is 
from  his  deep  conviction  that  the  Union  can 
best  be  reconstructed,  and  its  harmony  of 
relationship  restored,  by  pursuing  a  moderate 


20  The  Prison  Life 

policy  and  seeking  to  understand,  in  their 
present  frame  of  mind,  what  are  the.  views 
of  the  men  who  were  recently  our  leading 
enemies,  that  he  would  now  beg  the  earnest 
attention  of  all  classes  in  the  Country  to  such 
portions  of  this  volume  as  shadow  forth  the 
opinions  of  Mr.  Davis  in  regard  to  the  future 
of  the  South. 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  2 1 


CHAPTER  II. 

Fortress  Monroe. —  The  Ceremonial  of  deliier- 
ing  Mr.  Davis  into  Custody. — His  first 
Day  in  the  Casemate. 

FORTRESS  MONROE  is  too  well  known  to 
need  any  description  in  these  pages.  It  is 
the  most  powerful  regular  fortification  on  the 
Continent;  and,  with  its  subordinate  works 
is  the  grim  Cerberus  guarding  the  approach 
by  water  to  our  National  Capital.  It  has  wit 
nessed  the  initial  movements  of  many  most 
interesting  chapters  in  the  recent  war,  though 
itself  never  within  reach  of  hostile  guns, 
save  when  the  Merrimac  made  its  brief  raid 
upon  our  fleet  in  Hampton  Roads — the  raid 
so  notably  checked  by  Captain  Worden  in 
his  little  Monitor. 

Either  from  it,  or  past  it  from  Annapolis, 
had  sailed  the  chief  expeditions,  marine  and 


22  The  Prison  Life 

military,  of  the  Southern  coast.  Beneath  its 
ramparts  the  transports  of  McClellan's  army 
had  made  brief  rendezvous  when  hastening 
to  the  campaign  of  the  Peninsula ;  and  here 
again  they  had  to  pass,  when  returning  with 
diminished  ranks  and  soiled  plumage  to  save 
the  National  Capital  after  General  Pope's  dis 
aster.  It  witnessed  the  sailing  of  Sherman's 
Port  Royal  expedition,  .to  which  the  writer 
had  the  honor  to  belong ;  the  expeditions  of 
Burnside,  Butler,  Banks,  and  all  the  other 
joint  military  and  naval  movements  which 
thundered  for  three  years  along  the  coast, 
from  Cape  Hatteras  to  Sabine  Pass.  Far- 
ragut,  Du  Pont  and  Porter  stepped  ashore 
on  its  hospitable  beach  when  returning  from 
their  most  famous  exploits. 

Of  a  truth,  Fortress  Monroe,  though  not 
properly  in  the  war,  was  of  the  war — a  ren 
dezvous  for  our  greatest  naval,  military  and 
civil  chiefs  in  some  of  their  greatest  mo 
ments  ;  nor  will  its  least  interesting  reminis 
cence  to  the  future  tourist  be  this  which 
records,  that  in  one  of  its  granite  casemates, 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  23 

and  looking  out  through  the  bars  of  a  grated 
embrasure  on  the  Empire  he  had  lost,  lay  for 
many  months  in  solitary  confinement,  and 
awaiting  trial,  the  defeated  Chief  of  the  might 
iest  rebellion  which  this  earth  has  yet  wit 
nessed  ;  or,  at  least,  the  vastest  in  extent  and 
the  most  formidable  in  its  resources,  of  which 
history  gives  any  clear  and  credible  record. 

And  never  before,  indeed,  did  the  old  fort 
witness  such  excitement,  .though  partially  sup 
pressed  and  held  in  check  by  military  disci 
pline  and  the  respect  due  to  a  fallen  enemy, 
as  on  the  iQth  day  of  May,  1865,  when  the 
propeller  William  P.  Clyde  dropped  anchor 
in  Hampton  Roads,  and  the  news  spread  on 
shore — first  in  eager,  questioning  whispers, 
then  in  the  full  assurance  of  conviction — that 
she  had  on  board  as  prisoners  Jefferson 
Davis,  late  President  of  the  late  Confederacy 
and  his  family;  Alexander  H.  Stephens,  Vice- 
President;  John  H.  Reagan,  late  Postmaster- 
General  ;  Clement  C.  Clay,  and  several  more 
State  prisoners  belonging  to  his  now  scat 
tered  and  ruined  house. 


24  The  Prison  Life 

"  What  will  they  do  with  him  ?  "  "  When 
will  they  bring  him  ashore  ?"  "  Guess  they'll 
take  him  right  on  to  Washington  and  hang 
him  by  Military  Commission  ? "  "  Guess  you're 
a  jackass ;  they  can't  hang  him,  unless  they 
hang  all."  "  Jackass  yourself;  the  papers  say 
he  was  partner  with  the  assassins  in  killing 
Lincoln."  "  Who  are  the  other  chaps  with 
him  ?"  "  Will  they  keep  him  in  the  woman's 
toggery  he  had  on  when  caught  ? "  "  Guess 
there's  no  truth  in  that."  "  It's  just  as  true  as 
preaching — all  the  papers  say  so."  "  They'll 
hang  Clem.  Clay  sure."  This  was  something 
of  the  conversational  buzz  I  had  to  pass 
through,  while  hastening  down  from  my 
quarters  inside  the  fort,  to  get  an  early  view 
of  the  little  steamer,  which,  with  her  impri 
soned  freight,  was  the  centre  of  attention. 

For  the  next  three  clays  these  speculations 
continued,  colloquially  and  in  the  papers;  but 
meantime,  and  for  some  days  previously,  pre 
parations  had  been  going  on  within  the  fort, 
under  the  direction  of  Colonel  Brewerton  of 
the  Engineers,  which  gave  evidence  to  the 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  25 

initiated  that  the  State  prisoners  on  board 
the  propeller  in  the  offing  would  soon  be 
transferred — at  least  some  of  them,  and  for 
the  present — to  securer  quarters.  Black 
smiths  and  carpenters  were  busily  at  work 
fitting  up  casemates  number  two  and  four  in 
first  front,  and  near  the  postern,  for  the  recep 
tion  of  prisoners.  They  were  being  parti 
tioned  off  into  regular  cells  by  busy  brick 
layers  ;  heavy  iron  bars  were  placed  across 
the  external  embrasures,  and  windows  open 
ing  on  the  interior;  and  the  cells  intended 
for  the  prisoners  were  partitioned  off  into 
two  apartments,  that  next  the  embrasure  be 
ing  intended  for  the  captives,  while  the  room 
or  cell  opening  on  the  interior  of  the  fort 
was  for  his  guard. 

"  And  it  has  come  to  this,"  was  my  reflec 
tion,  as  I  stood  with  folded  hands  first  con 
templating  these  arrangements.  "  But  a  few 
months  ago,  the  man  for  whose  reception 
these  preparations  are  being  made,  was  the 
acknowledged  ruler  of  many  millions  of 
American  citizens.  He  had  armies  at  his 


26  The  Prison  Life 

command  ;  cabinet  officers  ;  a  staff  of  devoted 
adherents ;  and  ambassadors,  though  not  offi 
cially  recognised,  at  all  the  courts  of  Europe. 
Nearly  a  million  of  lives — by  battle,  disease, 
and  starvation — have  been  sacrificed  for,  and 
against,  the  cause  of  which  he  was  the  chosen 
representative.  And  it  has  come  to  this  with 
him !"  Aye,  and  was  soon  to  come  to  worse 
But  this  is  anticipating. 

On  the  morning  of  the  2ist  of  May  some 
of  the  minor  State  prisoners  on  board  the 
Clyde — the  rebel  General  Wheeler  and  his 
staff — were  placed  on  board  the  gunboat 
Maumee,  which  then  steamed  for  Fort  War 
ren  in  Boston  harbor;  while  Alexander  H. 
Stephens,  ex-Postmaster  Reagan,  and  some 
others,  were  soon  after  transferred  on  board 
the  gunboat  Tuscarora,  which  immediately 
started  off  to  Fort  Delaware,  as  was  pre 
sumed.  Intense  excitement,  on  shore  and 
in  the  neighboring  vessels,  accompanied  all 
these  changes;  but  Major-General  Halleck, 
who  had  come  down  some  days  before  to 
superintend  the  arrangements,  would  make 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  27 

no  sign,  and  speculation  consequently  ran 
higher  and  higher  every  moment  as  to 
whether  the  chief  prisoner  of  all  was  des- 
"tined  to  remain  at  the  fort,  or  be  transferred 
elsewhere  in  custody  without  halting. 

At  last,  on  the  afternoon  of  the  22d,  all 
doubts  were  set  at  rest  by  the  arrival  of 
Major-General  Miles  in  a  special  steamer 
from  Baltimore,  this  officer  being  now  as 
signed  to  the  command  of  the  fort,  relieving 
Colonel  Roberts ;  and  simultaneously  there 
with,  from  the  posting  of  chains  of  sentinels 
and  guards  to  keep  back  the  crowd  along 
the  Engineer's  Landing,  and  from  thence 
along  the  route  to  the  Water  Battery  Pos 
tern,  it  became  clear  that  the  important  pri 
soner  was  about  being  landed,  and  that  his 
route  would  lie  in  this  direction. 

The  parting  between  Mr.  Davis,  his  wife, 
four  children,  and  the  other  members  of  his 
family  and  household  who  were  on  board 
the  Clyde,  was  extremely  affecting,  as  I  have 
been  told,  by  officers  who  were  present — the 
ladies  sobbing  passionately  as  the  chief  pris- 


28  The  Prison  Life 

oners — Messrs.  Clay  and  Davis — were  handed 
over  the  ship's  side  and  into  the  boat,  which 
was  to  convey  them,  under  guard,  to  their 
unknown  fate. 

The  procession  into  the  fort  was  simple 
though  momentous,  and  was  under  the  im 
mediate  inspection  of  Major-General  Halleck 
and  the  Hon.  Charles  A.  Dana,  then  As 
sistant  Secretary  of  War;  Colonel  Prich- 
ard,  of  the  Michigan  cavalry,  who  immedi 
ately  effected  the  capture,  being  the  officer  in 
command  of  the  guard  from  the  vessel  to 
the  fort.  First  came  Major-General  Miles 
holding  the  arm  of  Mr.  Davis,  who  was 
dressed  in  a  suit  of  plain  Confederate  grey, 
with  a  grey  slouched  hat — always  thin,  and 
now  looking  much  wasted  and  very  haggard. 
Immediately  after  these  came  Colonel  Prich- 
ard  accompanying  Mr.  Clay,  with  a  guard  of 
soldiers  in  their  rear.  Thus  they  passed 
through  files  of  men  in  blue  from  the  Engi 
neer  s  Landing  to  the  Water  Battery  Pos 
tern  ;  and  on  arriving  at  the  casemate  which 
had  been  fitted  up  into  cells  for  their  incarce- 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  29 

ration,  Mr.  Davis  was  shown  into  casemate 
No.  2  and  Clay  into  No.  4,  guards  of  soldiers 
being  stationed  in  the  cells  numbered  i,  3, 
and  5,  upon  each  side  of  them.  They  en 
tered  ;  the  heavy  doors  clanged  behind  them, 
and  in  that  clang  was  rung  the  final  knell  of 
the  terrible,  but  now  extinct,  rebellion.  Here, 
indeed,  is  a  fall,  my  countrymen.  Another 
and  most  striking  illustration  of  the  muta 
bility  of  human  greatness.  Let  me  here 
give  a  picture  of  the  earliest  scene  in  the 
cell  of  Mr.  Davis,  as  related  immediately 
after  its  occurrence  by  one  who  was  a  pas 
sive  actor  therein,  my  own  connection  with 
Mr.  Davis  not  commencing  until  two  days 
after  (May  the  24th),  when  I  was  first  de 
tailed  by  Major-General  Miles  as  his  attend 
ing  physician. 

Being  ushered  into  his  inner  cell  by  Gen 
eral  Miles,  and  the  two  doors  leading  there 
into  from  the  guard-room  being  fastened,  Mr. 
Davis,  after  surveying  the  premises  for  some 
moments,  and  looking  out  through  the  em 
brasure  with  such  thoughts  passing  over  his 


30  The  Prison  Life 

lined  and  expressive  face  as  may  be  imagined, 
suddenly  seated  himself  in  a  chair,  placing 
both  hands  on  his  knees,  and  asked  one  of 
the  soldiers  pacing  up  and  down  within  his 
cell  this  significant  question :  "  Which  way 
does  the  embrasure  face  ? " 

The  soldier  was  silent. 

Mr.  Davis,  raising  his  voice  a  little,  re 
peated  the  inquiry. 

But  again  dead  silence,  or  only  the  mea 
sured  footfalls  of  the  two  pacing  sentries  with 
in,  and  the  fainter  echoes  of  the  four  without. 

Addressing  the  other  soldier,  as  if  the  first 
had  been  deaf  and  had  not  heard  him,  the 
prisoner  again  repeated  his  inquiry. 

But  the  second  soldier  remained  silent  as 
the  first,  a  slight  twitching  of  his  eyes  only 
intimating  that  he  had  heard  the  question,  but 
was  forbidden  to  speak. 

"  Well,"  said  Mr.  Davis,  throwing  his  hands 
up  and  breaking  into  a  bitter  laugh,  "  I  wish 
my  men  could  have  been  taught  your  disci 
pline!"  and  then,  rising  from  his  chair,  he 
commenced  pacing  back  and  forth  before  the 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  31 

embrasure,  now  looking  at  the  silent  sentry 
across  the  moat,  and  anon  at  the  two  silently 
pacing  soldiers  who  were  his  companions  in 
the  casemate. 

What  caused  his  bitter  laugh — for  even  in 
his  best  days  his  temper  was  of  the  saturnine 
and  atrabilious  type,  seldom  capable  of  being 
moved  beyond  a  smile  ?  Was  he  thinking  of 
those  days  under  President  Pierce,  in  which 
on  his  approach  the  cannon  of  the  fortress 
thundered  their  hoarse  salute  to  the  all-power 
ful  Secretary  of  War,  the  fort's  gates  leaping 
open,  its  soldiers  presenting  arms,  and  the 
whole  place  under  his  command  ?  Or  those 
later  days  under  Mr.  Buchanan  when,  as  the 
most  powerful  member  of  the  Military  Com 
mittee  of  the  Senate,  similar  honors  were 
paid  on  his  arrival  at  every  national  work — 
even  during  those  final  moments  when  he 
was  plotting  "  to  secure  peace"  by  placing  in 
command  of  all  our  forts  and  armories,  such 
officers  as  he  thought  might  be  relied  upon 
to  "  go  with  the  South  if  the  worst  came  ?  " 

And  was   not    his   question    significant : — 


The  Prison  Life 

"  Which  way  does  this  embrasure  face  ? 
Was  it  north,  south,  east,  or  west  ?  In  the 
hurry  and  agitation  of  being  conducted  in,  he 
had  lost  his  reckoning  of  the  compass,  though 
well  acquainted  with  the  localities  ;  and  his 
first  question  was  in  effect :  "  Does  my  vision 
in  its  reach  go  southward  to  the  empire  I 
have  lost,  or  North  to  the  loyal  enemies  who 
have  subdued  my  people  ? " — for  it  is  always 
as  "  his  people"  that  Mr.  Davis  refers  to  the 
Southern  States. 

His  sole  reading-matter  a  Bible  and  prayer- 
book,  his  only  companions  those  two  silent 
guards,  and  his  only  food  the  ordinary  rations 
of  Bread  and  beef  served  out  to  the  soldiers 
of  the  garrison — thus  passed  the  first  day  and 
night  of  the  ex-President's  confinement. 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  33 


CHAPTER  IIL 

Placing  Mr.  Davis  in  Irons. — His  Protest 
and  his  Struggles. — My  First  Visit  to  the 
Prisoner. 

ON  the  morning  of  the  23d  of  May,  a  yet 
bitterer  trial  was  in  store  for  the  proud  spirit 
— a  trial  severer,  probably,  than  has  ever  in 
modern  times  been  inflicted  upon  any  one 
who  had  enjoyed  such  eminence.  This  morn 
ing  Jefferson  Davis  was  shackled. 

It  was  while  all  the  swarming  camps  of 
the  armies  of  the  Potomac,  the  Tennessee 
and  Georgia — over  two  hundred  thousand 
bronzed  and  laurelled  veterans — were  pre 
paring  for  the  Grand  Review  of  the  next 
.morning,  in  which,  passing  in  endless  succes 
sion  before  the  mansion  of  the  President,  the 
conquering  military  power  of  the  nation  was 
to  lay  down  its  arms  at  the  feet  of  the  Civil 

2* 


34  The  Prison  Life 

Authority,  that  the  following  scene  was  en 
acted  at  Fort  Monroe  : 

Captain  Jerome  E.  Titlow,  of  the  3d  Penn 
sylvania  Artillery,  entered  the  prisoner's  cell, 
followed  by  the  blacksmith  of  the  fort  and  his 
assistant,  the  latter  carrying  in  his  hands  some 
heavy  and  harshly-rattling  shackles.  As  they 
entered,  Mr.  Davis  was  reclining  on  his  bed, 
feverish  and  weary  after  a  sleepless  night,  the 
food  placed  near  to  him  the  preceding  day 
still  lying  untouched  on  its  tin  plate  near  his 
bedside. 

"  Well  ? "  said  Mr.  Davis  as  they  entered, 
slightly  raising  his  head. 

"  I  have  an  unpleasant  duty  to  perform, 
Sir,"  said  Captain  Titlow ;  and  as  he  spoke, 
the  senior  blacksmith  took  the  shackles  from 
his  assistant. 

Davis  leaped  instantly  from  his  recumbent 
attitude,  a  flush  passing  over  his  face  for  a 
moment,  and  then  his  countenance  growing 
livid  and  rigid  as  death. 

He  gasped  for  breath,  clutching  his  throat 
with  the  thin  fingers  of  his  right  hand,  and 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  35 

then  recovering  himself  slowly,  while  his 
wasted  figure  towered  up  to  its  full  height — 
now  appearing  to  swell  with  indignation  and 
then  to  shrink  with  terror,  as  he  glanced  from 
the  captain's  face  to  the  shackles — he  said 
slowly  and  with  a  laboring  chest : 

"  My  God !  You  cannot  have  been  sent  to 
iron  me  ? " 

"  Such  are  my  orders,  Sir,"  replied  the  offi 
cer,  beckoning  the  blacksmith  to  approach, 
who  stepped  forward,  unlocking  the  padlock 
and  preparing  the  fetters  to  do  their  office. 
These  fetters  were  of  heavy  iron,  probably 
five-eighths  of  an  inch  in  thickness,  and  con 
nected  together  by  a  chain  of  like  weight.  I 
believe  they  are  now  in  the  possession  of 
Major-General  Miles,  and  will  form  an  inter 
esting  relic. 

"  This  is  too  monstrous,"  groaned  the  pri 
soner,  glaring  hurriedly  round  the  room,  as  if 
for  some  weapon,  or  means  of  self-destruction. 
"  I  demand,  Captain,  that  you  let  me  see  the 
commanding  officer.  Can  he  pretend  that 
such  shackles  are  required  to  secure  the  safe 


36  The  Prison  Life 

custody  of  a  weak  old  man,  so  guarded  and 
in  such  a  fort  as  this  ?" 

"  It  could  serve  no  purpose,"  replied  Cap 
tain  Titlow;  "his  orders  are  from  Washing 
ton,  as  mine  are  from  him." 

_"  But  he  can  telegraph,"  interposed  Mr 
Davis,  eagerly ;  "  there  must  be  some  mis 
take.  No  such  outrage  as  you  threaten  me 
with,  is  on  record  in  the  history  of  nations. 
Beg  him  to  telegraph,  and  delay  until  he 
answers." 

"  My  orders  are  peremptory,"  said  the  offi 
cer,  "  and  admit  of  no  delay.  For  your  own 
sake,  let  me  advise  you  to  submit  with 
patience.  As  a  soldier,  Mr.  Davis,  you 
know  I  must  execute  orders." 

"  These  are  not  orders  for  a  soldier," 
shouted  the  prisoner,  losing  all  control  of 
himself.  "  They  are  orders  for  a  jailor — for 
a  hangman,  which  no  soldier  wearing  a 
sword  should  accept!  I  tell  you  the  world 
will  ring  with  this  disgrace.  The  war  is 
over ;  the  South  is  conquered ;  I  have  no 
longer  any  country  but  America,  and  it  is 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  37 

for  the  honor  of  America,  as  for  my  own 
honor  and  life,  that  I  plead  against  this  degra 
dation.  Kill  me!  kill  me!"  he  cried,  passion 
ately,  throwing  his  arms  wide  open  and  expos 
ing  his  breast,  "rather  than  inflict  on  me, 
and  on  my  People  through  me,  this  insult 
worse  than  death." 

uV]Do  your  duty,  blacksmith,"  said  the  offi 
cer,  walking  towards  the  embrasure  as  if  not 
caring  to  witness  the  performance.  "  It  only 
gives  increased  pain  on  all  sides  to  protract 
this  interview." 

At  these  words  the  blacksmith  advanced 
with  the  shackles,  and  seeing  that  the  prisoner 
had  one  foot  upon  the  chair  near  his  bedside, 
his  right  hand  resting  on  the  back  of  it,  the 
brawny  mechanic  made  an  attempt  to  slip  one 
of  the  shackles  over  the  ankle  so  raised  ;  but, 
as  if  with  the  vehemence  and  strength  which 
frenzy  can  impart,  even  to  the  weakest  invalid, 
Mr.  Davis  suddenly  seized  his  assailant  and 
hurled  him  half-way  across  the  room. 

On  this  Captain  Titlow  turned,. and  seeing 
that  Davis  had  backed  against  the  wall  for 


38  The  Prison  Life 

further  resistance,  began  to  remonstrate,  point- 
ing  out  in  brief,  clear  language,  that  this  course 
was  madness,  and  that  orders  must  be  en 
forced  at  any  cost.  "  Why  compel  me,"  he 
said,  "  to  add  the  further  indignity  of  personal 
violence  to  the  necessity  of  your  being 
ironed  ? " 

"  I  am  a  prisoner  of  war,"  fiercely  retorted 
Davis  ;  "  I  have  been  a  soldier  in  the  armies 
of  America,  and  know  how  to  die.  Only  kill 
me,  and  my  last  breath  shall  be  a  blessing  on 
your  head.  But  while  I  have  life  and  strength 
to  resist,  for  myself  and  for  my  people,  this 
thing  shall  not  be  done." 

Hereupon  Captain  Titlow  called  in  a  ser 
geant  and  file  of  soldiers  from  the  next  room, 
and  the  sergeant  advanced  to  seize  the  pri 
soner.  Immediately  Mr.  Davis  flew  on  him, 
seized  his  musket  and  attempted  to  wrench  it 
from  his  grasp. 

Of  course  such  a  scene  could  have  but  one 
issue.  There  was  a  short,  passionate  scuffle. 
In  a  moment  Davis  was  flung  upon  his 
bed,  and  before  his  four  powerful  assailants 


of  Jefferson  Davis  *  39 

removed  their  hands  from  him,  the  blacksmith 
and  his  assistant  had  done  their  work — one 
securing  the  rivet  on  the  right  ankle,  while 
the  other  turned  the  key  in  the  padlock  on 
the  left. 

This  done,  Mr.  Davis  lay  for  a  moment  as 
if  in  stupor.  Then  slowly  raising  himself 
and  turning  round,  he  dropped  his  shackled 
feet  to  the  floor.  The  harsh  clank  of  the 
striking  chain  seems  first  to  have  recalled  him 
to  his  situation,  and  dropping  his  face  into 
his  hands,  he  burst  into  a  passionate  flood  of 
sobbing,  rocking  to  and  fro,  and  muttering  at 
brief  intervals  :  "  Oh,  the  shame,  the  shame  ! " 

It  may  here  be  stated,  though  out  of  its 
due  order — that  we  may  get  rid  in  haste  of  an 
unpleasant  subject — that  Mr.  Davis  some  two 
months  later,  when  frequent  visits  had  made 
him  more  free  of  converse,  gave  me  a  curious 
explanation  of  the  last  feature  in  this  incident. 

He  had  been  speaking  of  suicide,  and  de 
nouncing  it  as  the  worst  form  of  cowardice 
and  folly.  "  Life  is  not  like  a  commission 
that  we  can  resign  when  disgusted  with  the 


4O  4  The  Prison  Life 

service.  Taking  it  by  your  own  hand  is  a 
confession  of  judgment  to  all  that  your  worst 
enemies  can  allege.  It  has  often  flashed 
across  me  as  a  tempting  remedy  for  neuralgic 
torture  ;  but  thank  God  !  I  never  sought  my 
own  death  but  once,  and  then  when  com 
pletely  frenzied  and  not  master  of  my  actions. 
When  they  came  to  iron  me  that  day,  as  a  last 
resource  of  desperation,  I  seized  a  soldier's 
musket  and  attempted  to  wrench  it  from  his 
grasp,  hoping  that  in  the  scuffle  and  surprise, 
some  one  of  his  comrades  would  shoot  or 
bayonet  me." 

What  has  preceded  this,  with  the  exception 
of  the  preceding  paragraph  and  of  things  I 
saw — such  as  the  cell,  procession,  etc. — has 
been  based  on  the  evidence  of  others  who 
came  fresh  from  the  scenes  they  pictured.  I 
now  reach  the  commencement  of  my  persona) 
relations  with  the  prisoner,  and  for  all  that 
follows  am  willing  to  be  held  responsible. 

On  the  morning  of  May  24th,  I  was  sent 
for  about  half-past  8  A.M.,  by  Major-General 
Mi/es ;  was  told  that  State-prisoner  Davis 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  41 

complained  of  being  ill,  and  that  I  had  been 
assigned  as  his  medical  attendant 

Calling  upon  the  prisoner — the  first  time  1 
had  ever  seen  him  closely — he  presented  a 
very  miserable  and  afflicting  aspect.  Stretched 
upon  his  pallet  and  very  much  emaciated,  Mr. 
Davis  appeared  a  mere  fascine  of  raw  and 
tremulous  nerves — his  eyes  restless  and  fe 
vered,  his  head  continually  shifting  from  side 
to  side  for  a  cool  spot  on  the  pillow,  and  his 
case  clearly  one  in  which  intense  cerebral  ex 
citement  was  the  first  thing  needing  attention. 
He  was  extremely  despondent,  his  pulse  full 
and  at  ninety,  tongue  thickly  coated,  extremi 
ties  cold,  and  his  head  troubled  with  a  long- 
established  neuralgic  disorder.  Complained 
of  his  thin  camp  mattress  and  pillow  stuffed 
with  hair,  adding,  that  he  was  so  emaciated 
that  his  skin  chafed  easily  against  the  slats ; 
and,  as  these  complaints  were  well  founded,  I 
ordered  an  additional  hospital  mattress  and 
softer  pillow,  for  which  he  thanked  me  cour 
teously. 

"  But  I  fear,"  he  said,  as,  having  prescribed, 


42  The  Prison  Life 

I  was  about  taking  my  leave,  accompanied  by 
Captain  Evans,  3d  Pennsylvania  Artillery, 
who  was  officer  of  the  day ;  "  I  fear,  Doctor, 
you  will  have  a  troublesome  and  unsatisfactory 
patient.  One  whose  case  can  reflect  on  you 
little  credit.  There  are  circumstances  at  work 
outside  your  art  to  counteract  your  art ;  and  I 
suppose,  there  must  be  a  conflict  between  your 
feelings  as  a  soldier  of  the  Union  and  your 
duties  as  a  healer  of  the  sick." 

This  last  was  said  with  a  faint  smile,  and  I 
tried  to  cheer  him,  assuring  him,  if  he  would 
only  keep  quiet  and  endeavor  to  get  some 
rest  and  sleep,  which  my  prescription  was 
mainly  addressed  to  obtain,  that  he  would  be 
well  in  a  few  days.  For  the  rest,  of  course  a 
physician  could  have  no  feelings  nor  recog 
nise  any  duties  but  towards  his  patient. 

Mr.  Davis  turned  to  the  officer  of  the  day, 
and  demanded  whether  he  had  been  shackled 
by  special  order  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  or 
whether  General  Miles  had  considered  this 
violent  course  essential  to  his  safe-keeping? 
The  Captiin  replied  that  he  knew  nothing 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  43 

ot    the    matter ;    and    so  our  first   interview 
ended. 

On  quitting  Mr.  Davis,  at  once  wrote  to 
Major  Church,  Assistant  Adjutant-General, 
advising  that  the  prisoner  be  allowed  tobacco 
—to  the  want  of  which,  after  a  lifetime  of 
use,  he  had  referred  as  one  of  the  probable 
partial  causes  of  his  illness— though  not  com- 
plainingly,  nor  with  any  request  that  it  be 
given.  This  recommendation  was  approved 
in  the  course  of  the  day ;  and  on  calling  in 
the  evening  brought  tobacco  with  me,  and  Mr. 
Davis  filled  his  pipe,  which  was  the  sole  article 
he  had  carried  with  him  from  the  Clyde,  ex 
cept  the  clothes  he  then  wore. 

"  This  is  a  noble  medicine,"  he  said,  with 
something  as  near  a  smile  as  was  possible  for 
his  haggard  and  shrunken  features.  "  I  hardly 
expected  it ;  did  not  ask  for  it,  though  the 
deprivation  has  been  severe.  During  my  con 
finement  here  I  shall  ask  for  nothing." 

He  was  now  much  calmer,  feverish  symp 
toms  steadily  decreasing,  pulse  already  down 
to  seventy-five,  his  brain  less  excitable,  and  his 


44  The  Prison  Life 

mind  becoming  more  resigned  to  his  condi 
tion.  Complained  that  the  foot-falls  of  the 
two  sentries  within  his  chamber  made  it  diffi 
cult  for  him  to  collect  his  thoughts ;  but 
added  cheerfully  that,  with  this — touching  his 
pipe — he  hoped  to  become  tranquil. 

This  pipe,  by  the  way,  was  a  large  and 
handsome  one,  made  of  meerschaum,  with  an 
amber  mouth-piece,  showing  by  its  color  that 
it  had  seen  "  active  service"  for  some  time — as 
indeed  was  the  case,  having  been  his  com 
panion  during  the  stormiest  years  of  his  late 
titular  Presidency.  It  is  now  in  the  Writer's 
possession,  having  been  given  to  him  by  Mr. 
Davis,  and  its  acceptance  insisted  upon  as  the 
only  thing  he  had  left  to  offer. 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  45 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Conversation  with  Mr.  Davis  on  many  Points. 
'  —  The  Removal  of  his  Shackles  demanded 
as  a  Medical  Necessity. 

MORNING  of  25th  May.  My  patient  much 
easier  and  better.  Had  slept  a  little,  and 
thanked  me  for  the  additional  mattress. 

"  I  have  a  poor,  frail  body,"  he  said ;  "  and 
though  in  my  youth  and  manhood,  while 
soldiering,  I  have  done  some  rough  camping 
and  campaigning,  there  was  flesh  then  to 
cover  my  nerves  and  bones ;  and  that  makes 
an  important  difference." 

He  then  spoke  of  his  predisposition  to 
bilious  fever  at  this  period  of  the  year,  stating 
that  it  usually  began  with  a  slight  chill,  then 
ran  into  a  remittent  condition.  Had  also  suf 
fered  much  from  neuralgia,  by  which  the  sight 
of  one  eye  had  been  destroyed  ;  and  had  been 


46  The  Prison  Life 

a  victim  to  what  he  called  "  the  American 
malady,"  dyspepsia,  ever  since  quitting  the 
active,  open-air  life  of  the  army. 

Having  ordered  him  a  preparation  of  Cali- 
saya  bark  after  each  meal  to  assist  digestion 
Mr.  Davis  spoke  familiarly  of  all  the  various 
preparations  of  this  medicine ;  then  digressed 
into  some  reminiscence  of  a  conversation  he 
once  had  with  an  eminent  English  physician 
in  regard  to  anti-periodics. 

He  took  the  ground,  said  Mr.  Davis,  that 
Peruvian  bark  in  its  various  forms  was  the 
only  reliable  therapeutic  agent  of  this  kind — 
and  it  may  be  so  with  the  practice  in  England. 
Here,  however  (I  told  him),  we  have  a  number 
perfectly  reliable,  such  as  Salicine,  from  the 
willow,  a  preparation  of  arsenic  (in  solution), 
and  so  forth. 

He  appeared  anxious  to  know  what  agents 
could  be  used  for  adulterating  quinine  and 
the  other  preparations  of  bark,  for  that  they 
are  grossly  adulterated  he  knew.  Taking  all 
the  risks  of  running  the  blockade,  these  pre 
parations,  or  preparations  purporting  to  be 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  47 

such,  had  been  sold  at  Wilmington  and 
Charleston  during  the  war,  at  prices  in  gold  for 
which  the  genuine  articles  could  scarcely  have 
been  procured  in  London.  They  were  the 
best  his  people  could  get,  however,  and  very 
thankful  they  were  when  they  could  be  had. 
Then  spoke  of  the  crime  of  adulterating  me 
dicines  as  heinous  in  the  extreme,  and  re 
ferred  to  a  speech  he  had  made  on  the  subject 
in  the  Senate  of  the  United  Sates,  asking 
legislative  interference,  and  that  no  adulterat 
ed  drugs  should  be  allowed  to  pass  the  Cus- 
tom-House.  His  action  had  been  based, 
partly  on  his  own  acquaintance  with  the  facts, 
but  more  especially  on  a  report  from  an  emi 
nent  chemist  in  New  York  city,  setting  forth 
the  magnitude  of  the  abuse,  with  tabular 
statements. 

"  There  was  one  restriction  of  the  war,"  he 
went  on  to  say,  "  imposed  by  the  overwhelm 
ing  superiority  of  your  navy,  which  I  do  not 
believe  an  enlightened  and  Christian  civiliza 
tion  can  approve.  I  refer  to  that  making 
medicines  contraband  of  war.  This  inflicted 


48  Tke  Prison  Life 

much  undeserved  suffering  on  women  and 
children  and  the  whole  non-combatant  class, 
while  comparatively  but  little  affecting  the 
combatants.  For  our  soldiers  we  had  to  pro 
cure  the  requisite  medicines,  at  whatever  cost 
or  sacrifice  ;  so  that  the  privation  fell  chiefly 
upon  those  who  were  not  engaged  in  the  war, 
save  as  helpless  spectators.  I  am  far  fron? 
saying  this  restriction  was  not  justified  by  the 
laws  of  war,  as  heretofore  acknowledged  and 
practised  ;  but  whenever  these  laws  come  to 
be  revised  in  a  spirit  more  harmonizing  with 
the  advanced  intelligence  of  our  times,  some 
friend  of  humanity  should  plead  that  cargoes 
duly  vouched  as  only  containing  medicines 
should  not  be  liable  to  stoppage." 

Happening  to  notice  that  his  coffee  stood 
cold  and  apparently  untasted  beside  his  bed 
in  its  tin  cup,  I  remarked  that  here  was  a 
contradiction  of  the  assertion  implied  in  the 
old  army  question,  "  Who  ever  saw  cold  cof 
fee  in  a  tin  cup  ? "  referring  to  the  eagerness 
with  which  soldiers  of  all  classes,  when  cam 
paigning,  seek  for  and  use  this  beverage. 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  49 

"  I  cannot  drink  it,"  he  remarked,  "  though 
fond  of  coffee  all  my  life.  It  is  the  poorest 
article  of  the  sort  I  have  ever  tasted ;  and  if 
your  government  pays  for  such  stuff  as  cof 
fee,  the  purchasing  quartermaster  must  be 
getting  rich.  It  surprises  me,  too,  for  I 
thought  your  soldiers  must  have  the  best — 
many  of  my  Generals  complaining  of  the 
difficulties  they  encountered  in  seeking  to 
prevent  our  people  from  making  volunteer 
truces  with  your  soldiers  whenever  the  lines 
ran  near  each  other,  for  the  purpose  of  ex 
changing  the  tobacco  we  had  in  abundance 
against  your  coffee  and  sugar." 

Replied  that  the  same  difficulty  had  been 
felt  on  our  side,  endangering  discipline  and 
calling  for  severe  measures  of  repression. 
The  temptation  to  obtain  tobacco  was  uncon 
trollable.  One  of  our  lads  would  pop  his 
head  up  from  his  rifle-pit  and  cry :  "  Hey, 
Johnny,  any  tobacco  over  your  way?"  to 
which  the  reply  would  instantly  come,  "  Yes, 
Yank,  rafts  of  it.  How  is  it  with  you  on  the 
coffee  question?"  A  satisfactory  reply  being 


5O  The  Prison  Life 

given,  the  whisper  would  run  along  each  line, 
"  Cease  firing,  truce  for  coffee  and  tobacco  ; " 
and  in  another  moment  scores  of  the  combat 
ants,  on  either  side,  would  be  scrambling 
over  their  respective  earthworks,  and  meet 
ing  on  the  debatable  land  between,  for  com 
mercial  dicker  and  barter  on  true  Yankee 
style. 

This  picture  seemed  to  amuse  the  patient. 
His  spirits  were  evidently  improving.  Told 
him  to  spend  as  little  time  in  bed  as  he 
could ;  that  exercise  was  the  best  medicine 
for  dyspeptic  patients.  To  this  he  answered 
by  uncovering  the  blankets  from  his  feet  and 
showing  me  his  shackled  ankles. 

"  It  is  impossible  for  me,  Doctor;  I  cannot 
even  stand  erect.  These  shackles  are  very 
heavy ;  I  know  not,  with  the  chain,  how 
many  pounds.  If  I  try  to  move  they  trip 
me,  and  have  already  abraded  broad  patches 
of  skin  from  the  parts  they  touch.  Can  you 
devise  no  means  to  pad  or  cushion  them,  so 
that  when  I  try  to  drag  them  along  they  may 
not  chafe  me  so  intolerably?  My  limbs  have 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  51 

so  little  flesh  on  them,  and  that  so  weak,  as 
to  be  easily  lacerated." 

At  sight  of  this  I  turned  away,  promising 
to  see  what  could  be  done,  as  exercise  was 
the  chief  medical  necessity  in  his  case  ;  and 
at  this  moment  the  first  thrill  of  sympathy 
for  my  patient  was  experienced. 

That  afternoon,  at  an  interview  sought  with 
Major-General  Miles,  my  opinion  was  given 
that  the  physical  condition  of  State-prisoner 
Davis  required  the  removal  of  his  shackles, 
until  such  time  as  his  health  should  be  estab 
lished  on  some  firmer  basis.  Exercise  he  ab 
solutely  needed,  and  also  some  alleviation  of 
his  abnormal  nervous  excitement.  No  drugs 
could  aid  a  digestion  naturally  weak  and  so 
impaired,  without  exercise  ;  nor  could  any 
thing  in  the  pharmacopoeia  quiet  nerves  so 
over-wrought  and  shattered,  while  the  con 
tinual  irritation  of  the  fetters  was  counter 
poising  whatever  medicines  might  be  given. 

"  You  believe  it,  then,  a  medical  necessity  ?  ' 
queried  General  Miles. 

"  I  do  most  earnestly." 


UNIVERSIT 


52  The  Prison  Life 

"  Then  I  will  give  the  matter  attention  ;"  and 
at  this  point  for  the  present  the  affair  ended. 

May  26 1 A. — Called  with  the  Officer  of 
the  Day,  Captain  James  B.  King,  ,at  i  P.M. 
Found  Mr.  Davis  in  bed,  complaining  of  in 
tense  debility,  but  could  not  point  to  any  par 
ticular  complaint.  The  pain  in  his  head  had 
left  him  last  night,  but  had  been  brought  back 
this  forenoon  and  aggravated  by  the  noise  of 
mechanics  employed  in  taking  down  the 
wooden  doors  between  his  cell  and  the  ex 
terior  guard-room,  and  replacing  these  with 
iron  gratings,  so  that  he  could  at  all  times  be 
seen  by  the  sentries  in  the  outside  room,  as 
well  as  by  the  two  "  silent  friends,"  who  were 
the  unspeaking  companions  of  his  solitude. 

Noticed  that  the  prisoner's  dinner  lay  un 
touched  on  its  tin  plate  near  his  bedside,  his 
meals  being  brought  in  by  a  silent  soldier, 
who  placed  food  on  its  table  and  then  with 
drew.  Had  remarked  before  that  he  scarcely 
touched  the  food  served  to  him,  his  appetite 
being  feeble  at  best,  and  his  digestion  out  of 
order. 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  53 

Quitting  him,  called  on  General  Miles,  and 
reccmmended  that  I  be  allowed  to  place  the 
prisoner  on  a  diet  corresponding  with  his  con 
dition,  which  required  light  and  nutritious 
food.  Consent  was  immediately  given,  and  I 
had  prepared  and  sent  over  from  my  quarters 
some  tea  and  toast  for  his  evening's  meal. 

Calling  about  7  P.M.,  found  Mr.  Davis 
greatly  improved,  the  tea  and  toast  having 
given  him,  he  said,  new  life.  Though  he 
had  not  complained  of  the  fare,  he  was  very 
thankful  for  the  change.  Remarked  in  reply 
that  I  had  observed  the  food  given  was  not 
fit  for  an  invalid  in  his  condition,  and  was 
happy  to  say  permission  had  been  given  me 
to  supply  from  my  own  table  such  diet  as  he 
might  seem  to  need.  On  this  he  repeat 
ed  that  I  had  an  unequal  and  perplexing 
task. 

"  As  a  soldier  you  could  soon  dispose  of 
me,"  he  said  ;  "  but  as  a  master  of  the  healing 
art  all  your  energies  will  be  taxed ;  and  I 
sometimes  hope — sometimes  fear — in  vain. 
You  have  in  me  a  constitution  completely 


54  The  Prison  Life 

shattered,  and  of  course  all  its  maladies  ag 
gravated  by  my  present  surroundings." 

He  then  commenced  talking — and  let  me 
here  say  that  I  encouraged  him  in  this,  believ 
ing  conversation  and  some  human  sympathy 
the  best  medicines  that  could  be  given  to  one 
in  his  state — on  the  subject  of  the  weather. 

How  has  the  weather  been — rough  or  fair  ? 
In  this  huge  casemate,  and  unable  to  crawl  to 
the  embrasure,  he  could  not  tell  whether  the 
weather  was  rough  or  smooth,  nor  how  the 
wind  was  blowing. 

"  All  my  family  are  at  sea,  you  are  aware, 
on  their  way  to  Savannah ;  and  I  know  the 
dangers  of  going  down  the  coast  at  this  sea 
son  of  the  year  too  well  to  be  without  in 
tense  alarm.  My  wife  and  four  children, 
with  other  relatives,  are  on  board  the  Clyde, 
and  these  propellers  roll  dreadfully  and  are 
poor  sea-boats  in  rough  weather." 

He  then  explained  with  great  clearness  of 
detail,  and  evidently  having  studied  the  sub 
ject,    why   the    dangers    of  going    down    the 
coast  in  rough  weather  were  so  much  greater 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  55 

than  coming  north.  Going  down,  ships  had 
to  hug  the  shore — often  running  dangerously 
near  the  treacherous  horrors  of  Cape  Hat- 
teras ;  while  in  running  north  they  stood  out 
from  land  to  catch  the  favoring  gulf  stream, 
to  avoid  which  they  had  to  run  in  shore  as 
close  as  they  could  when  steering  south. 

He  appeared  intensely  anxious  on  this 
subject,,  recurring  to  it  frequently  and  specu 
lating  on  the  probable  position  of  the  Clyde 
at  this  time.  "Should  she  be  lost,"  he  re 
marked,  "  it  will  be  '  all  my  pretty  chickens 
and  their  dam  at  one  fell  swoop.'  It  will  be 
the  obliteration  of  my  name  and  house." 

"  Mrs.  Davis,  too,"  he  continued,  "  has 
much  to  contend  with.  Her  sister  has  been 
very  ill,  and  her  two  nurses  left  her  while 
here,  and  she  could  procure  no  others.  My 
only  consolation  is,  that  some  of  my  paroled 
people  are  on  board,  and  soldiers  make  excel 
lent  nurses.  Soldiers  are  fond  of  children. 
Perhaps  the  roughness  of  their  camp-life 
makes  the  contrasted  playfulness  of  infancy 
so  pleasant.  Charles  of  Sweden,  Frederick 


56  The  Prison  Life 

the  Great,  and  Napoleon,  were  illustrations 
of  this  peculiarity.  The  Duke  of  Welling 
ton  is  the  only  eminent  commander  of  whom 
no  trait  of  the  sort  is  recorded." 

Talking  of  propellers,  and  how  badly  they 
rolled  in  a  rough  sea,  I  spoke  of  one  called 
the  Burnside,  formerly  stationed  at  Port 
Royal,  of  which  the  common  remark  was, 
that  in  every  three  rolls  she  went  clean 
round. 

"  Once,"  I  added,  "  when  her  Captain  was 
asked  what  was  her  draught  of  water,  he 
replied  that  he  did  not  know  to  an  inch  the 
height  of  her  smoke-stack,  but  it  was  from 
the  top  of  that  to  her  keel." 

This,  and  other  anecdotes,  amused  the 
patient  for  some  quarter  of  an  hour;  and 
whatever  could  give  his  mind  a  moment's 
repose  was  in  the  line  of  his  cure. 

As  I  was  leaving,  he  asked  had  I  been 
able  to  do  nothing  to  pad  or  cushion  his 
shackles?  He  could  take  no  exercise,  or 
but  the  feeblest,  and  with  great  pain,  while 
they  were  on. 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  57 

To  this  gave  an  evasive  answer,  not  know 
ing  what  might  be  the  action  of  General 
Miles,  and  fearing  to  excite  false  hopes.  No 
such  half-way  measures  as  padding  would 
suffice  to  meet  the  necessities  of  his  case ; 
while  their  adoption,  or  suggestion,  might 
defer  the  broader  remedy  that  was  needed. 
On  leaving,  he  requested  me  in  the  morning 
to  note  how  the  wind  blew,  and  the  pros 
pects  of  the  weather,  before  paying  him 
my  visit.  Until  he  heard  of  his  family's 
arrival  in  Savannah  he  could  know  no  peace. 


58  The  Prison  Life 


CHAPTER  V. 

Conversations  of  some  Interest.  —  The  Shack 
les  Removed.  —  Mr.  Davis  on  Various  Sci 
entific  Subjects. 


27th.  —  Called  in  the  morning  with  the 
Officer  of  the  Day,  Captain  Titlow.  Found 
Mr.  Davis  in  bed,  very  weak  and  desponding. 
He  had  not  slept.  Had  been  kept  awake  by 
the  heavy  surging  of  the  wind  through  the 
big  trees  on  the  other  side  of  the  moat.  Ap 
peared  much  relieved  when  I  told  him  the 
breeze  was  nothing  like  a  storm,  though  it 
blew  north-easterly,  which  was  favorable  to 
the  ship  containing  his  family. 

He  expressed  great  concern  lest  his  wife 
should  hear  through  newspapers  of  the  scene 
in  his  cell  when  he  was  ironed.  Would  it  be 
published,  did  I  think  ?  And  on  my  remain 
ing  silent—  for  I  knew  it  had  been  sent  to  the 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  59 

newspapers  on  the  afternoon  of  its  transpiring 
— he  interlaced  his  fingers  across  his  eyes,  and 
ejaculated :  "  Oh,  my  poor  wife,  my  poor, 
poor  girl !  How  the  heart-rending  narrative 
will  afflict  her  !  " 

He  remained  silent  for  some  moments  as  I 
sat  beside  his  bed ;  and  then  continued,  ex 
tending  his  hand  that  I  might  feel  his  pulse  : 

"  I  wish  she  could  have  been  spared  this 
knowledge.  There  was  no  necessity  for  the 
act.  My  physical  condition  rendered  it  obvi 
ous  that  there  could  be  no  idea  that  fetters 
were  needful  to  the  security  of  my  imprison 
ment.  It  was  clear,  therefore,  that  the  object 
was  to  offer  an  indignity  both  to  myself  and 
the  cause  I  represented — not  the  less  sacred 
to  me  because  covered  with  the  pall  of  a 
military  disaster.  It  was  for  this  reason  I  re 
sisted  as  a  duty  to  my  faith,  to  my  country 
men,  and  to  myself.  It  was  for  this  reason 
I  courted  death  from  the  muskets  of  the  guard. 
The  Officer  of  the  Day  prevented  that  result, 
and,  indeed," — bowing  to  Captain  Titlow — 
"  behaved  like  a  man  of  good  feeling.  But. 


60  The  Prison  Life 

my  poor  wife  !  I  can  see  the  hideous  an 
nouncement  with  its  flaming  capitals,  and  can 
not  but  anticipate  how  much  her  pride  and 
love  will  both  be  shocked.  For  myself  I  am 
resigned,  and  now  only  say,  'The  Lord  re 
prove  them!'  The  physical  inconvenience 
of  these  things  I  still  feel  (clanking  his  ankles 
together  slightly  under  the  bed-clothes),  but 
their  sense  of  humiliation  is  gone.  Patriots 
in  all  ages,  to  whose  memories  shrines  are 
now  built,  have  suffered  as  bad  or  worse  in 
dignities." 

He  thanked  me  for  the  breakfast  that  had 
been  sent  him,  expressing  the  hope  that  I 
would  not  let  my  wife  be  put  to  too  much 
trouble  making  broth  and  toast  for  one  so 
helpless  and  utterly  wretched. 

"  I  wish,  Doctor,"  said  he,  "  I  could  com 
pensate  you  by  getting  well ;  but  my  case  is 
most  unpromising.  Your  newspapers,"  he 
went  on — this  with  a  grim  smile — "  should 
pray  for  the  success  of  your  skill.  If  you 
fail,  where  will  their  extra  editions  be — their 
startling  head-lines  ?  My  death  would  only 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  61 

give  them  food  for  one  or  two  days  at  most ; 
while  my  trial — for  I  suppose  I  shall  be  given 
some  kind  of  trial— would  fatten  for  them  a 
month's  crop  of  lucrative  excitement." 

Finding  the  conversation,  or  rather  his 
monologue,  running  into  a  channel  more  likely 
to  excite  than  soothe  him — the  latter  being  the 
object  for  which  I  was  always  willing  to  listen 
during  the  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes  these 
interviews  usually  lasted  while  he  was  seri 
ously  ill — I  now  rose  to  take  my  leave,  gently 
hinting  that  he  should  avoid  such  thoughts 
and  topics  as  much  as  possible. 

He  took  my  remark  in  a  wrong  sense,  as 
if  I  had  been  hurt  at  his  saying  anything  that 
might  cast  a  reflection  on  the  justice  that 
would  be  dealt  to  him  by  my  government,  or 
upon  the  style  of  journalism  in  Northerr 
newspapers.  But  I  explained  that  nothing 
could  be  farther  from  my  thoughts :  that  my 
counsel  was  purely  medical,  and  to  divert  him 
from  a  theme  that  must  re-arouse  the  cerebral 
excitement  we  were  seeking  to  allay. 

"  For  the  rest,  Mr.  Davis,"  I  went  on,  "  that 


62  The  Prison  Life 

Doctor  should  go  to  College  again  who  is 
not  ready  to  listen  with  interest  and  attention 
to  whatever  subject  may  be  uppermost  in  his 
patient's  mind,  unless  convinced  that  the 
mind's  brooding  upon  it  will  do  harm,  not 
good.  We  need  ventilation  in  the  world  of 
mind  not  less  than  in  that  of  physics.  Our 
thoughts  need  to  go  abroad  in  the  minds  of 
other  men,  and  take  their  exercise  in  the  sun 
light  and  free  air  of  language.  The  doctrine 
of  confession  in  the  Catholic  Church  is  based 
on  the  soundest  principles  of  moral  and  intel 
lectual  hygiene.  It  is  throwing  open  the 
doors  and  windows  of  the  soul,  changing  the 
atmosphere,  and  disinfecting  every  crevice  of 
the  mind  of  the  foul  vapors  engendered  by 
the  close  dampness  and  darkness  of  secresy. 
The  physician  who  has  not  learned  to  act  in 
this  faith  should  re-commence  his  education." 
Called  again  at  8  P.M.  same  day.  Mr.  Davis 
still  very  weak,  and  had  been  troubled  with 
several  faint,  not  exactly  fainting,  spells,  his- 
pulse  indicating  extreme  debility.  He  said 
thr  nights  were  very  tedious  and  haggard. 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  63 

During  the  day  he  could  find  employment 
reading  (the  Bible  or  prayer-book  being  sel 
dom  out  of  his  hand  while  alone),  but  during 
the  night  his  anxieties  about  his  family  re 
turned  ;  and  the  footh-falls  of  the  sentries  in 
the  room  with  him  —  their  very  breathing 
or  coughing — continually  called  back  his 
thoughts,  when  otherwise  and  for  a  moment 
more  pleasantly  wandering,  to  his  present 
situation.  He  had  watched  the  weather  all 
day  with  intense  interest;  and  had  been  cheer 
ed  to  observe  from  the  slant  of  the  rain  that 
the  wind  appeared  to  continue  north-east,  so 
that  he  hoped  his  family  were  by  this  time  in 
Savannah. 

Then  went  on  to  say  that  he  feared,  after 
he  had  been  removed  from  the  Clyde,  his  wife 
must  have  suffered  the  annoyance  of  having 
her  trunks  searched — an  unnecessary  act,  it 
seemed  to  him,  as,  of  course,  if  she  had  any 
thing  to  conceal,  she  could  have  got  rid  of  it 
on  the  passage  ug. 

On  my  remarking,  to  soothe  him,  that  no 
such  search  was  probable,  he  said  it  could 


64  The  Prison  Life 

hardly  be  otherwise,  as  he  hadreceiv  ed  a  suit 
of  heavy  clothes  from  the  propeller ;  and  Gen. 
Miles,  when  informing  him  of  the  fact,  had 
mentioned  that  there  were  quite  a  number  of 
suits  there. 

"  Now  I  had  none  with  me  but  such  as  my 
wife  placed  in  her  own  trunks  when  she  left 
Richmond,  so  that  her  trunks  have  probably 
been  opened ;  and  I  suppose,"  he  added  with 
another  grim  smile,  "  that  the  other  clothes  to 
which  Gen.  Miles  referred,  are  now  on  exhibi 
tion  or  preserved  as  '  relics.'  My  only  hope 
is,  that  in  taking  my  wardrobe  they  did  not 
also  confiscate  that  of  my  wife  and  children ; 
but  I  realize  that  we  are  like  him  of  old  who 
fell  amongst  a  certain  class  of  people  and  was 
succored  by  the  good  Samaritan." 

"  And  so,  Doctor,"  he  went  on,  "  you  think 
all  the  miserable  details  of  my  ironing  have 
been  placed  before  the  public  ?  It  is  not 
only  for  the  hurt  feelings  of  my  wife  and 
children,  but  for  the  honor  of  Americans 
that  I  regret  it.  My  efforts  to  conceal  from 
my  wife  the  knowledge  of  my  sufferings  are 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  65 

unavailing;  and  it  were  perhaps  better  that 
she  should  know  the  whole  truth,  as  proba 
bly  less  distressing  to  her  than  what  may  be 
the  impressions  of  her  fears.  Should  I  write 
such  a  letter  to  her,  however,  she  would 
never  get  it." 

Sunday,  May  2&t/i. — At  n  A.M.  this  morn- 
ing  was  sitting  on  the  porch  in  front  of  my 
quarters  when  Captain  Frederick  Korte,  3d 
Pennsylvania  Artillery,  who  was  Officer  of  the 
Day,  passed  towards  the  cell  of  the  prisoner, 
followed  by  the  blacksmith.  This  told  the 
story,  and  sent  a  pleasant  professional  thrill 
of  pride  through  my  veins.  It  was  a  vindi 
cation  of  my  theory,  that  the  healing  art  is 
next  only  in  its  sacredness  and  power  to  that 
of  the  healers  of  the  soul — an  instance  of 
the  doctrinal  toga  forming  a  shield  for  suffer 
ing  humanity,  which  none  were  too  exalted 
or  powerful  to  disregard.  I  hastily  followed 
the  party,  but  remained  in  the  outer  guard 
room  while  the  smith  removed  the  shackles. 
Did  not  let  Mr.  Davis  see  me  then,  but 
retired,  thinking  it  better  the  prisoner  should 


66  The  Prison  Life 

be  left  alone  in  the  first  moments  of  regain 
ing  so  much  of  his  personal  freedom. 

Called  again  at  2  P.M.  with  the  Officer  of 
the  Day.  Immediately  on  entering,  Mr. 
Davis  rose  from  his  seat,  both  hands  ex 
tended,  and  his  eyes  filled  with  tears.  He 
was  evidently  about  to  say  something,  but 
checked  himself;  or  was  checked  by  a  rush 
of  emotions,  and  sat  down  upon  his  bed. 
That  I  was  gratified  by  the  change  I  will 
not  deny — and  let  those  in  the  North  into 
whose  souls  the  iron  of  Andersonville  has 
entered,  think  twice  before  they  condemn 
me.  The  war  was  over ;  the  prisons  on 
both  sides  were  empty.  If  by  rigor  to  Davis 
we  could  have  softened  by  a  degree  the  suf 
ferings  of  a  single  Union  prisoner,  I,  for  one, 
would  have  said  let  our  retaliation  be  so  terri 
ble  as  to  bring  the  South  to  justice.  But 
now,  no  sufferings  of  his  could  recall  the 
souls  that  had  fled,  or  the  bodies  that  were 
wasted  and  fever-stricken.  It  would  not  be 
retaliation  to  secure  justice,  but  mere  ignoble 
vindictiveness  to  further  torture  this  unhappy 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  67 

and  shattered  man.  Besides,  as  his  medi 
cal  adviser,  I  could  know  him  in  no  other 
capacity ;  and  it  then  remained  to  be  proved 
— remains  yet  to  be  proved — that  he  was  in 
any  manner  of  volition  or  wish  responsible 
for  the  horrors  we  deplore.  Even  Napoleon 
complained  that  Virion,  and  his  other  com 
missaries  of  prisoners,  stole  the  food  and 
other  stores  furnished  for  their  use ;  and  time 
must  develop  whether,  and  how  far,  Mr. 
Davis  was  responsible  for  the  cruel  treatment 
of  our  boys. 

Thus  feeling,  I  congratulated  him  on  the 
change,  observing  that  my  promise  of  his 
soon  feeling  better  was  being  fulfilled ;  and 
he  must  now  take  all  the  exercise  that  was 
possible  for  him,  for  on  this  his  future  health 
would  depend.  Captain  Korte,  too,  joined 
in  my  congratulations  very  kindly,  and  spoke 
with  the  frank  courtesy  of  a  gentleman  and 
soldier. 

In  speaking  of  his  present  state  of  health, 
and  the  treatment  he  had  formerly  been 
under  for  the  same  symptoms,  Mr.  Davis 


68  The  Prison  Life 

referred  very  kindly,  and  in  terms  of  admira 
tion,  to  his  former  friend  and  medical  attend 
ant,  Dr.  Thomas  Miller,  of  Washington. 
Also  to  Dr.  Stone,  of  Washington,  who  had 
made  a  specialty  of  the  eye  and  its  diseases. 
From  him  he  had  received  clearer  ideas  of 
the  power  of  vision,  and  the  adaptation  of 
the  eye  to  various  distances  and  degrees  of 
light,  than  from  any  other  source.  Referring 
to  his  own  loss  of  sight  in  one  eye  from 
leucoma,  or  an  ulceration  of  the  cornea,  he 
said  he  could  discern  light  with  it,  but  could 
not  distinguish  objects. 

Entering  then  into  conversation  upon 
optics  and  acoustics,  Mr.  Davis  spoke  on 
both  subjects,  but  more  especially  the  former, 
with  great  familiarity.  Referring  to  the 
undulating  waves  by  which  both  light  and 
sound  are  conveyed,  he  remarked : 

"  With  what  admirable  perversity  nature 
has  avoided  all  straight  lines  and  angles — the 
curve,  or  waving  '  line  of  beauty,'  first  discov 
ered  to  men  by  Hogarth,  being  the  rule  with 
her  in  every  variety  of  production.  In  no 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  69 

leaf,  flower,  tree,  rock,  animal,  bird,  fish  or 
shell  that  nature  has  produced,  can  a  straight 
line,  angle,  or  two  lines  exactly  parallel  be 
found." 

Speaking  of  how  greatly  the  powers  of  the 
sight  may  be  increased  by  practice,  Mr.  Davis 
upheld  the  theory  that  the  brain,  too,  was 
also  enlarged  in  its  capacities,  both  physically 
and  intellectually,  by  continual  labor.  He 
pointed  to  the  large  brains  of  nearly  all  who 
have  been  eminent  in  pursuits  involving 
mental  labor,  contending  that  as  the  labor 
of  the  tailor  develops  the  muscles  of  the 
right  thumb  and  fore-finger,  those  of  the 
delver  the  muscles  of  the  leg,  and  so  forth, 
so  the  increased  exercise  of  the  brain  in 
creased  its  size.  There  was  a  fault  in  his 
parallel,  he  knew,  or  rather  what  appeared  to 
be  a  fault — that  we  can  establish  no  analogy 
between  the  mental  and  physical  phases  of 
existence.  Still  it  was  certain  that  labor 
enlarged  all  organs  involved  in  it,  so  far  as 
we  had  means  of  judging ;  and  that  while  we 
did  not  know  how  the  brain  acted  in  its 


70  The  Prison  Life 

reception  or  emission  of  ideas — whether 
purely  passively,  or  with  some  physical 
action,  however  slight — we  did  know  for 
certain  that  the  brains  of  all  great  intellectual 
workers  were  much  larger,  on  the  average, 
than  were  those  of  men  pursuing  different 
callings. 

Remarked  that  with  these  ideas,  he  must  to 
a  great  extent  be  a  believer  in  phrenology  ;  to 
which  he  assented,  while  at  the  same  time 
protesting  against  the  charlatanisms  which 
had  overlapped,  for  selfish  purposes  of  gain, 
what  of  truth  there  was  in  the  science.  Be 
fore  the  matter  could  be  properly  tested,  the 
anatomy  of  the  brain  should  be  made  a 
specialty,  and  studied  with  all  the  assistance 
of  innumerable  subjects  for  many  years.  But 
the  men  who  now  put  themselves  forward  as 
professors  of  the  science,  had  probably  never 
seen  the  inside  of  any  brain — certainly  not  of 
half  a  dozen — in  their  lives. 

Referring  to  the  stories  that  were  probably 
being  circulated  about  him  in  the  Northern 
papers,  and  the  falseness  of  such  stories  in 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  71 

general,  Mr.  Davis  instanced  what  he  called 
the  foul  falsehood  that  he  had  preached  and 
effected  the  repudiation  of  the  Mississippi 
bonds. 

"  There  is  no  truth  in  the  report,"  he  said. 
"  The  event  referred  to  occurred  before  I  had 
any  connection  with  politics — my  first  en 
trance  into  which  was  in  1843;  nor  was  I  at 
any  time  a  disciple  of  the  doctrine  of  repudia 
tion.  Nor  did  Mississippi  ever  refuse  to 
acknowledge  as  a  debt  more  than  one  class  of 
bonds — those  of  the  Union  State  Bank 
only. 

"  To  show  how  absurd  the  accusation  is," 
continued  Mr.  Davis,  "  although  so  widely 
believed  that  no  denial  can  affect  its  cur 
rency,  take  the  following  facts.  I  left  Mis 
sissippi  when  a  boy  to  go  to  college ;  thence 
went  to  West  Point ;  thence  to  the  army.  In 
1835  I  resigned,  settled  in  a  very  retired 
place  in  the  State,  and  was  wholly  unknown, 
except  as  remembered  in  the  neighborhood 
where  I  had  been  raised.  At  the  time  when 
the  Union  Bank  bonds  of  Mississippi  were 


7 2  The  Prison  Life 

issued,  sold  and  repudiated — as  I  believe 
justly,  because,  their  issue  was  in  violation  of 
the  State  Constitution — I  endeavored  to  have 
them  paid  by  voluntary  contributions;  and 
subsequently  I  sent  agents  to  England  to 
negotiate  for  this  purpose." 

Recurring  then  to  the  subject  of  optics  and 
diseases  of  the  eye — which  appeared  a  favorite 
with  him — Mr.  Davis  descanted  on  the  curious 
effects  of  belladonna  on  the  iris  and  crystal 
line  lens;  stating  that,  though  a  valuable 
remedy  when  only  used  as  such,  it  tended  to 
coagulate  and  produce  cataract  in  the  latter 
when  used  in  excess — as  witness  the  number 
of  cases  of  this  kind  of  injury  amongst  the 
ladies  of  Italy  and  Spain,  where  the  article 
was  much  used  as  a  toilette  adjunct.  He 
spoke  of  the  beautiful  provisions  of  nature  for 
the  protection  of  this  organ,  illustrating  by 
the  third  transparent  eyelid  or  membrane 
which  all  diving  birds  drop  over  the  eye 
when  darting  swiftly  through  the  air  or  water, 
thus  protecting  the  delicate  organ  from  being 
hurt,  while  allowing  a  sufficiency  of  light  to 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  73 

guide  them.  He  could  not  believe  that  any 
living  things  as  a  class  were  deprived  of  the 
joy  of  sunlight;  and  while  the  microscope  had 
thus  far  found  no  organs  that  we  could  re 
cognise  as  of  sight  in  many  classes  of  living 
things — shell-fish,  worms,  and  so  forth — he 
believed  that  they  must  in  some  manner 
be  impressible  with  the  alternations  of  light 
and  darkness.  It  had  so  long  appeared  a 
question  with  him  whether  his  own  eyesight 
could  be  saved,  that  he  had  given  this  subject 
much  attention — or  rather  reflection  ;  and  he 
quoted  from  Milton  with  great  pathos  several 
passages  on  the  subject : 

Oh  dark,  dark,  dark,  amid  the  blaze  of  noon  ; 
Irrevocably  dark  !  total  eclipse  without  the  hope  of  day 

And  again  : 

Nor  to  these  idle  orbs  doth  sight  appear 
Of  sun,  or  moon,  or  stars,  throughout  the  year, 
Or  man,  or  woman.     Yet  I  argue  not 
Against  Heaven's  hand  or  will,  nor  bate  a  jot 
Of  heart  or  hope  ;  but  still  bear  up  and  steer 
Right  onward. 

4 


74  The  Prison  Life 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Operations  on  the  Southern  Coast. — Davis 
Hears  that  he  is  Indicted  and  to  be  Tried. 
— His  Joy. —  Views  of  his  own  Defence. 

MAY  2QTH. — Called  with  Captain  Bispham,  3d 
Pennsylvania  Artillery,  Officer  of  the  Day. 
Found  Mr.  Davis  walking  up  and  down  the 
floor,  apparently  better — but  still  laboring 
under  some  excitement.  He  said  exercise 
had  already  done  him  good  ;  had  slept  much 
better  last  night ;  and  rejoiced  to  see  clear 
and  bright  weather  again,  though  little  sun 
shine  entered  his  cell.  Thought  though  it 
did  not  shine  on  him,  it  was  shining  on  his 
dear  wife  and  children,  safely  havened  from 
the  dangers  of  the  ocean. 

Complained  of  the  dampness  of  his  cell,  as 
one  probable  cause  of  his  illness.  The  sun 
could  never  dart  its  influence  through  such 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  75 

masses  of  masonry.  Surrounded  as  the  fort 
was  with  a  ditch,  in  which  the  water  rose 
and  fell  from  three  to  four  feet  with  the  tide, 
it  was  impossible  to  keep  such  places  free 
from  noxious  vapors. 

"  I  am  something  of  an  engineer,"  he  said, 
"  and  the  causes  are  obvious.  Builders  fill  in 
the  backs  of  walls  with  stone-chips  and  rubble, 
insufficiently  mortared,  through  which  the  tidal 
water  ebbs  and  falls.  When  it  falls  it  leaves 
vacuums  of  damp  air,  and  when  it  rises  again, 
this  mephitic  air,  with  its  gases  engendered  in 
closeness,  dampness  and  darkness,  is  forced  up 
ward  into  the  casemates,  for  no  masonry  is  so 
perfect  as  to  exclude  the  permeation  of  gases. 

"  I  am  aware,"  he  went  on,  "  that  officers 
and  soldiers  and  their  families  have  been  in 
the  habit  of  occupying  these  casemates  ;  but 
when  Secretary  of  War  I  issued  an  order 
forbidding  the  practice.  Huts  or  tents  are 
much  healthier,  more  especially  for  children. 
The  casemates  of  Fort  Pulaski  were  peculiar 
ly  unhealthy,  that  place  being  erected  on 
what  might  be  called  a  shaking-scraw,  or 


76  The  Prison  Life 

sponge  of  miasmatic  vegetation,  thoroughly 
permeated  by  tidal  action.  Its  foundations 
had  to  be  pile-driven  at  an  enormous  expense 
of  money  and  labor,  and  only  from  the  neces 
sities  of  the  coast  could  such  a  selection  of  a 
site  have  been  justified." 

Mentioned  that  I  had  been"  at  the  siege, 
and  gave  him  some  particulars  explanatory 
of  the  actual  situation  at  the  time  of  the  sur 
render  of  Col.  Olmstead  of  the  2d  Georgia 
Volunteers,  whom  he  appeared  at  first  inclin 
ed  to  blame  as  guilty  of  a  premature  capitula 
tion.  After  all,  however,  he  thought  the 
Colonel  was  excusable,  as  further  holding-out 
promised  no  advantages  to  compensate  its 
loss,  the  up-river  batteries  of  our  forces  mak 
ing  it  certain  that  Tatnall's  fleet  could  render 
no  assistance.  The  surrender  of  Port  Royal 
he  did  not  think  premature,  under  the  cir 
cumstances,  because  if  his  people  had  not 
retreated  when  they  did,  our  gunboats,  run 
ning  round  the  creeks  in  rear  of  Hilton 
Head,  Port  Royal  and  St.  Helena  Islands, 
would  have  made  retreat  impossible ;  while 


OF 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  77 

the  troops  of  our  Shermah  expedition  when 
landed  were  more  than  sufficient  to  overpower 
the  garrisons.  The  mistake  was  that  power 
ful  works  had  not  been  erected  in  rear  of  the 
islands  to  cover  the  ferries,  and  thus  secure 
uninterrupted  communication  with  the  main 
land.  Had  this  been  attended  to  in  the  first 
instance,  there  would  then  have  been  no  ex 
cuse  for  the  abandonment  of  the  powerful 
works  designed  to  protect  Port  Royal — at 
least  none  unless  preceded  by  a  more  pro 
tracted  resistance. 

Recurring  to  the  subject  of  his  family,  Mr. 
Davis  asked  me  had  I  not  been  called  upon 
to  attend  Miss  Howell,  his  wife's  sister,  who 
had  been  very  ill  at  the  time  of  his  quitting 
the  Clyde.  Replied  that  Col.  James,  Chief 
Quartermaster,  had  called  at  my  quarters,  and 
requested  me  to  visit  a  sick  lady  on  board  that 
vessel ;  believed  it  was  the  lady  he  referred  to, 
but  could  not  be  sure  of  the  name.  Had  men 
tioned  the  matter  to  Gen.  Miles,  asking  a  pass 
to  visit;  but  he  objected,  saying  the  orders  were 
to  allow  no  communication  with  the  ship. 


78  The  Prison  Life 

Mr.  Davis  exclaimed  this  was  inhuman. 
The  ladies  had  certainly  committed  no  crime, 
and  there  were  no  longer  any  prisoners  on 
board  the  ship  when  the  request  was  made, 
he  and  Mr.  Clay  having  been  the  last  remov 
ed.  The  lady  was  very  seriously  ill,  and  no 
officer,  no  gentleman,  no  man  of  Christian  or 
even  human  feeling,  would  have  so  acted. 
Gen.  Miles  was  from  Massachusetts,  he  had 
heard,  and  his  action  both  in  this  and  other 
matters  appeared  in  harmony  with  his  origin. 
It  was  much  for  Massachusetts  to  boast  that 
one  of  her  sons  had  been  appointed  his  jailor; 
and  it  was  becoming  such  a  jailor  to  oppress 
helpless  women  and  children.  ****** 

June  ist. — Called  with  Captain  Korte,  Offi 
cer  of  the  Day,  about  noon.  Had  been  sent 
for  at  8  P.M.,  but  was  away  fishing.  Mr.  Davis 
was  suffering  from  a  numbness  of  the  extre 
mities,  which  he  feared  was  incipient  paraly 
sis.  Told  him  it  was  merely  due  to  an  enfee 
bled  circulation,  and  recommended  bathing 
and  friction. 

He  asked  me  what  luck  fishing,  and  ap 


of  Jefferson  Davis. .  79 

peared  in  better  spirits  than  usual.  Had  just 
heard,  he  said,  through  an  irregular  channel, 
that  he  had  been  indicted  with  Mr.  Breckin- 
ridge  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  hoped 
therefore  that  he  was  about  to  have  a  consti 
tutional  trial — not  one  by  military  commis 
sion,  to  which  he  would  not  have  pleaded, 
regarding  it  as  foregone  murder.  The  news 
had  reached  him  through  the  conversation  of 
some  soldiers  in  the  guard-room,  who  some 
times  spoke  to  each  other  in  loud  tones  what 
they  wished  him  to  overhear.  It  was  proba 
bly  in  no  friendly  spirit  they  had  given  him 
this  news ;  but  to  him  it  was  as  welcome  as 
air  to  the  drowning. 

He  then  referred  to  the  severity  of  his 
treatment,  supposing  himself  at  present  to  be 
merely  held  for  trial,  and  not  already  under 
going  arbitrary  punishment.  As  this  conver 
sation  was  a  very  important  one,  I  took  full 
note  of  it  almost  immediately  on  quitting  his 
cell,  and  it  is  now  given  in  very  nearly,  if  not 
precisely,  his  own -words: 

"  Humanity  supposes  every  man  innocent, 


So  The  Prison  Life 

urged  Mr.  Davis,  "  until  the  reverse  shall  be 
proven ;  and  the  laws  guarantee  certain  privi 
leges  to  persons  held  for  trial.  To  hold  me 
here  for  trial,  under  all  the  rigors  of  a  con 
demned  convict,  is  not  warranted  by  law — is 
revolting  to  the  spirit  of  justice.  In  the  poli 
tical  history  of  the  world,  there  is  no  parallel 
to  my  treatment.  England  and  the  despotic 
governments  of  Europe  have  beheaded  men 
accused  of  treason ;  but  even  after  their  con 
viction  no  such  efforts  as  in  my  case  have 
been  made  to  degrade  them.  Apart,  however, 
from  my  personal  treatment,  let  us  see  how 
this  matter  stands. 

"  If  the  real  purpose  in  the  matter  be  to 
test  the  question  of  secession  by  trying  cer 
tain  persons  connected  therewith  for  treason, 
from  what  class  or  classes  should  the  persons 
so  selected  be  drawn  ? 

"  From  those  who  called  the  State  Conven 
tions,  or  from  those  who,  in  their  respective 
conventions,  passed  the  ordinance  of  seces 
sion  ?  Or,  from  the  authors  of  the  doctrine 
of  State  rights?  Or,  from  those  citizens 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  81 

who,  being  absent  from  their  States,  were 
unconnected  with  the  event,  but  on  its  occur 
rence  returned  to  their  homes  to  share  the 
fortunes  of  their  States  as  a  duty  of  primal 
allegiance  ?  Or  from  those  officers  of  the 
State,  who,  being  absent  on  public  service, 
were  called  home  by  the  ordinance,  and 
returning,  joined  their  fellow-citizens  in  State 
service,  and  followed  the  course  due  to  that 
relation  ? 

"  To  the  last  class  I  belong,  who  am  the 
object,  of  greatest  rigor.  This  can  only  be 
explained  on  the  supposition  that,  having 
been  most  honored,  I,  therefore,  excite  most 
revengeful  feelings — for  how  else  can  it  be 
accounted  for? 

"  I  did  not  wish  for  war,  but  peace. 
Therefore  sent  Commissioners  to  negotiate 
before  war  commenced ;  and  subsequently 
strove  my  uttermost  to  soften  the  rigors  of 
war;  in  every  pause  of  conflict  seeking,  if 
possible,  to  treat  for  peace.  Numbers  of 
those  already  practically  pardoned  are  those 
who,  at  the  beginning,  urged  that  the  black 

4* 


82  The  Prison  Life 

flag  should  be  hoisted,  and  the  struggle 
made  one  of  desperation. 

"  Believing  the  States  to  be  each  sover 
eign,  and  their  union  voluntary,  I  had 
learned  from  the  Fathers  of  the  Constitu 
tion  that  a  State  could  change  its  form  of 
government,  abolishing  all  which  had  pre 
viously  existed ;  and  my  only  crime  has  been 
obedience  to  this  conscientious  conviction. 
Was  not  this  the  universal  doctrine  of  the 
dominant  Democratic  party  in  the  North 
previous  to  secession  ?  Did  not  many  of 
the  opponents  of  that  party,  in  the  same 
section,  share  and  avow  that  faith?  They 
preached,  and  professed  to  believe.  We 
believed,  and  preached,  and  practised. 

"  If  this  theory  be  now  adjudged  errone 
ous,  the  history  of  the  States,  from  their 
colonial  organization  to  the  present  moment, 
should  be  re-written,  and  the  facts  sup 
pressed  which  may  mislead  others  in  a  like 
manner  to  a  like  conclusion. 

But  if — as  I  suppose — the  purpose  be  to 
test  the  question  of  secession  by  a  judicial 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  83 

decision,  why  begin  by  oppressing  the  chief 
subject  of  the  experiment?  Why,  in  the 
name  of  fairness  and  a  decent  respect  for 
the  opinions  of  mankind,  deprive  him  of 
the  means  needful  to  a  preparation  of  his 
defence ;  and  load  him  with  indignities 
which  must  deprive  his  mind  of  its  due 
equilibrium  ?  It  ill  comports  with  the  dig 
nity  of  a  great  nation  to  evince  fear  of  giv 
ing  to  a  single  captive  enemy  all  the  advan 
tages  possible  for  an  exposition  of  his  side 
of  the  question.  A  question  settled  by  vio 
lence,  or  in  disregard  of  law,  must  remain 
unsettled  for  ever. 

"  Believing  all  good  government  to  rest  on 
truth,  it  is  the  resulting  belief  that  injustice  to 
any  individual  is  a  public  injury,  which  can 
only  find  compensation  in  the  reaction  which 
brings  retributive  justice  upon  the  oppressors. 
It  has  been  the  continually  growing  danger 
of  the  North,  that  in  attempting  to  crush  the 
liberties  of  my  people,  you  would  raise  a 
Frankenstein  of  tyranny  that  would  not  down 
at  your  bidding.  .  Sydney,  and  Russell,  and 


8:}  The  Prison  Life 

Vane,  and  Peters,  suffered ;  but  in  their  death 
Liberty  received  blessings  their  lives  might 
never  have  conferred. 

"  If  the  doctrine  of  State  Sovereignty  be  a 
dangerous  heresy,  the  genius  of  -  America 
would  indicate  another  remedy  than  the  sacri 
fice  of  one  of  its  believers.  Wickliffe  died, 
but  Huss  took  up  his  teachings;  and  when 
the  dust  of  this  martyr  was  sprinkled  on  the 
Rhine,  some  essence  of  it  was  infused  in  the 
cup  which  Luther  drank. 

"  The  road  to  grants  of  power  is  known 
and  open ;  and  thus  all  questions  of  reserved 
rights  on  which  men  of  highest  distinction 
may  differ,  and  have  differed,  can  be  settled 
by  fair  adjudication;  and  thus  only  can  they 
be  finally  set  at  rest." 

He  then  apologized  for  talking  politics  to 
one  who  should  not  hear  such  politics  as  his ; 
but  oi?t  of  the  fulness  of  the  heart  the  mouth 
speaketh,  and  in  his  joy  at  the  unhoped-for 
news  that  'he  had  been  indicted,  and  was  to 
have  a  trial  which  he  supposed  must  be  pub 
lic,  and  which  publicity  would  compel  to  be 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  85 

not  wholly  one-sided,  there  was  some  excuse 
for  his  indiscretion. 

To  change  the  subject,  he  returned  to  fish 
ing,  of  which  we  had  been  speaking.  Was  a 
follower  and  admirer  of  the  sport,  but  more  in 
theory  than  practice.  His  life  had  been  too 
busy  for  the  past  thirty  years  to  allow  his  in 
dulging  even  his  most  cherished  inclinations, 
except  at  rare  intervals.  Izaak  Walton  had 
been  one  of  his  favorite  authors;  and  one  of 
the  counts  he  had  against  Benjamin  Frank 
lin,  was  the  latter's  fierce  attack  on  the  gentle 
fisherman.  Indeed  Franklin  had  said  many 
things  not  of  benefit  to  mankind.  His  soul 
was  a  true  type  or  incarnation  of  the  New 
England  character — hard,  calculating,  angu 
lar,  unable  to  conceive  any  higher  object  than 
the  accumulation  of  money.  He  was  the 
most  material  of  great  intellects.  None  of 
the  lighter  graces  or  higher  aspirations  found 
favor  in  his  sight ;  and  with  true  New  Eng 
land  egotism,  because  he  did  not  possess  cer 
tain  qualities  himself,  they  were  to  be  ignored 
or  crushed  out  of  existence  everywhere.  The 


86  T/ie  Prison  Life 

hard,  grasping,  money-grubbing,  pitiless  and 
domineering  spirit  of  the  New  England  Puri 
tans  found  in  Franklin  a  true  exponent. 
Noble  qualities  he  had,  however — courage, 
truth,  industry,  economy  and  honesty.  His 
school  of  common  sense  was  the  apotheosis 
of  selfish  prudence.  He  could  rarely  err,  for 
men  err  from  excess  of  feeling,  and  Franklin 
had  none.  The  homely  wisdom  of  his  writ 
ings,  judged  from  the  material  stand-point, 
could  never  be  surpassed ;  and  while  he  con 
fessed  to  disliking  him,  he  was  compelled  to 
admire  his  "  Poor  Richard  "  from  its  sinewy 
force. 

Mr.  Davis  then  spoke  of  the  restrictions 
placed  upon  his  reading,  which  he  supposed 
must  soon  terminate  if  he  was  to  be  placed 
on  trial.  Books  would  be  indispensable  to 
preparing  his  defence,  nor  did  he  see  how  he 
could  be  denied  free  intercourse  with  counsel. 

Books,  if  he  could  get  them,  would  be  a 
great  consolation.  True,  he  had  the  two  best 
— pointing  to  his  Bible  and  prayer-book ;  but 
the  mind  could  not  keep  continually  at  the 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  87 

height  and  strain  of  earnestness  required  fot 
their  profitable  reading.  That  the  papers  and 
other  publications  of  the  day  should  be  de 
nied  him,  he  could  understand — though  even 
this  would  not  be  right  when  he  was  prepar 
ing  for  trial.  He  would  then  require  to  know 
what  phase  of  public  opinion  he  addressed ; 
for  in  all  such  trials — and  in  this  age  of 
publicity  there  must  be  two  tribunals — one 
inside,  but  infinitely  the  vaster  one  outside 
the  court-room.  To  old  English  or  other 
books  for  his  perusal,  what  objection  could 
be  urged?  Such  indulgences  were  given  to 
the  worst  criminals  before  trials ;  and  even 
after  conviction  the  prison  libraries  were 
open  for  their  use.  A  mind  so  active  as  his 
had  been  for  forty  years,  could  not  suddenly 
bring  its  machinery  to  a  pause.  It  must 
either  have  food,  or  prey  upon  itself,  and  this 
was  his  case  at  present.  Except  for  the  pur 
pose  of  petty  torture,  there  could  be  no  color 
of  reason  for  withholding  from  him  any  books 
or  papers  dated  prior  to  the  war. 

June  *]tk. — I  received  the  following  letter 


88  The  Prison  Life 

from  Mrs.  Davis,  dated  Savannah,  June  ist, 
1865,  to  Dr.  J.  J.  Craven,  Chief  Medical  Offi 
cer,  Fort  Monroe,  Va. 

SAVANNAH,  GA.,  June  ist,  1865. 

DR.  J.  J.  CRAVEN,  Chief  Med.  Officer,  Fort  Mon 
roe,  Va. : 

SIR, — Through  the  newspapers  I  learn  that 
you  are  the  Surgeon  of  the  post,  and  con 
sequently  in  attendance  upon  Mr.  Davis. 
Shocked  by  the  most  terrible  newspaper  ex 
tras  issued  every  afternoon,  which  represent 
my  husband  to  be  in  a  dying  condition,  I 
have  taken  the  liberty,  without  any  previous 
acquaintance  with  you,  of  writing  to  you. 
Perhaps  you  will  let  me  know  from  your  own 
pen  how  he  is.  Would  it  trouble  you  too 
much  to  tell  me  how  he  sleeps — how  his  eyes 
look — are  they  inflamed? — does  he  eat  any 
thing  ? — may  I  ask  what  is  the  quality  of  his 
food  ?  Do  not  refuse  my  request.  It  seems 
to  me  that  no  possible  harm  could  accrue  to 
your  government  from  my  knowing  the  ex 
tent  of  my  sorrow.  And  if,  perchance,  actu 
ated  by  pity,  you  do  not  tell  me  the  worst,  the 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  89 

newspapers  do,  and  then  the  uncertainty  is 
such  agony!  You  will  perceive,  my  dear  sir, 
that  I  plead  with  you  upon  the  supposition 
that  you  sympathize  with  our  sorrows,  and  in 
the  sufferings  of  the  man  have  lost  sight  of 
the  political  enemy,  who  no  longer  has  the 
power  to  do  aught  but  bear  what  is  inflicted. 
I  will  not  believe  that  you  can  refuse  my 
petition.  If  you  are  only  permitted  to  say 
he  is  well,  or  he  is  better,  it  will  be  a  great 
comfort  to  me,  who  has  no  other  left.  If  you 
are  kind  to  him,  may  God  have  you  in  His 
holy  keeping,  and  preserve  all  those  sources 
of  happiness  to  you  which  have,  in  one  day, 
been  snatched  away  from, 

Yours  very  respectfully, 

VARINA  DAVIS. 


90  The  Prison  Life 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Mr.  Davis  on  the  New  England  Character. — 
Future  of  the  South  and  Southern  Blacks. 

JUNE  8th. — Was  called  to  the  prisoner,  whom  I 
had  not  seen  for  a  week.  Entered  with 
Captain  E.  A.  Evans,  Officer  of  the  Day. 
Found  Mr.  Davis  relapsing  and  very  despond 
ent.  Complained  again  of  intolerable  pains 
in  his  head.  Was  distracted  night  and  day  by 
the  unceasing  tread  of  the  two  sentinels  in  his 
room,  and  the  murmur  or  gabble  of  the  guards 
in  the  outside  cell.  He  said  his  casemate  was 
well  formed  for  a  torture-room  of  the  inquisi 
tion.  Its  arched  roof  made  it  a  perfect  whisp 
ering  gallery,  in  which  all  sounds  were  jumbled 
and  repeated.  The  torment  of  his  head  was 
so  dreadful,  he  feared  he  must  lose  his  mind. 
Already  his  memory,  vision,  and  hearing,  were 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  91 

impaired.  He  had  but  the  remains  of  one 
eye  left,  and  the  glaring,  whitewashed  walls 
were  rapidly  destroying  this.  He  pointed  to 
a  crevice  in  the  wall  where  his  bed  had  been, 
explaining  that  he  had  changed  to  the  other 
side  to  avoid  its  mephitic  vapors. 

Of  the  trial  he  had  been  led  to  expect,  had 
heard  nothing.  This  looked  as  if  the  indict 
ment  were  to  be  suppressed,  and  the  action 
of  a  Military  Commission  substituted.  If  so, 
they  might  do  with  him  as  they  pleased,  for 
he  would  not  plead,  but  leave  his  cause  to  the 
justice  of  the  future.  As  to  taking  his  life, 
that  would  be  the  greatest  boon  they  could 
confer  on  him,  though  for  the  sake  of  his 
family  he  might  regret  the  manner  of  its 
taking. 

Talked  with  Mr.  Davis  for  some  time,  en 
deavoring  to  allay  his  irritation.  The  trouble 
of  his  head  did  not  arise  from  the  causes  he 
supposed,  but  from  a  torpid  condition  of  the 
liver,  and  would  be  at  once  relieved  by  a  bi 
lious  cathartic  which  I  prescribed.  It  was 
impossible  that  any  malarial  poisons  at  this 


9  2  The  Prison  Life 

season  of  the  year  could  haye  influence  in  his 
casemate.  The  ventilation  was  thorough,  the 
place  scrupulously  clean  ;  and  the  very  white 
wash  of  which  he  complained  as  hurting  his 
eyes,  was  a  powerful  disinfectant,  if  such 
poisons  existed.  After  the  action  of  the 
medicine  he  would  look  on  the  world  with  a 
more  hopeful  view.  In  regard  to  his  expected 
trial,  knew  nothing,  never  had  known  any 
thing,  and  even  knowing  would  be  forbidden 
to  speak. 

He  said  he  had  not  mentioned  the  matter 
to  question  me,  but  as  an  ejaculation  of 
impatience,  for  which  his  intolerable  pain 
must  bear  the  blame.  He  was  no  stranger 
to  pain,  nor  easily  overcome  by  it.  At 
Buena  Vista,  though  severely  wounded,  he 
kept  saddle  until  the  close  of  the  day ;  but 
the  pain  of  no  wound  could  compare  to  this 
aching  fury  of  the  brain. 

June  9///.  Called,  accompanied  by  Cap 
tain  Korte,  Officer  of  the  Day.  Mr.  Davis 
very  well — almost  entirely  relieved.  Said  he 
would  believe  after  this  that  disquietude 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  93 

could  be  best  reached  through  the  stomach. 
Had  slept  well,  and  was  greatly  refreshed ; 
his  head  almost  free  from  pain. 

Calling  me  to  the  embrasure,  he  pointed 
out  some  dark  spots  on  the  slope  of  the 
moat  opposite,  and  asked  me  what  they 
were.  Told  him  they  were  oysters.  He 
had  thought  so,  but  was  not  sure.  Had 
seen  them  growing  in  a  stranger  place — the 
branches  of  trees  so  heavily  fruited  with 
them  as  almost  to  break.  .  Told  him  I  had 
seen  the  same  thing,  but  only  along  the 
coasts  of  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  and 
Florida.  In  the  South  the  oysters  cling  to 
high  rocks  and  drooping  branches  of  trees, 
only  requiring  to  be  submerged  for  a  few 
hours  at  high  tide ;  while  with  us,  the  frosts 
of  winter  compel  them  to  keep  in  deep  water. 

Mr.  Davis  spoke  of  the.  Coon  oysters  of 
the  Southern  coast — the  long,  razor-shaped 
oysters,  growing  on  high  ledges,  and  referred 
to  the  negro  version  of  how  the  coons 
obtained  their  flesh.  Their  story  is,  that 
the  coon  takes  in  his  mouth  a  blade  of 


94  The  Prison  Life 

bluebent,  or  meadow  grass,  and  when  the 
oyster  opens  his  shell, fxlrives  the  stiletto 
point  of  the  grass  into  his  flesh,  killing  him 
instantly,  so  that  he  has  no  power  to  close 
his  defences.  This,  though  ingenious,  is 
not  true.  The  coon  .kites  off  the  thin  edges 
of  the  shell  at  one  point,  and  then  sucks 
out  all  the  softer  parts  of  the  body. 

In  regard  to  the  propagation  of  oysters, 
had  some  talk,  Mr.  Davis  thinking  the 
spawn  drifted  in  the  water  unable  to  control 
itself  and  adhered  to  the  first  solid  sub 
stance — rock,  bank,  or  branch — with  which 
it  was  brought  in  contact.  This,  I  ex 
plained,  was  not  so ;  the  oyster,  for  the  first 
three  or  four  days  of  his  life,  being  a  tuni- 
cated  pteropod,  able  to  swim  in  any  direc 
tion  he  may  please.  At  the  end  of  this 
first  period,  when  he  finds  a  congenial 
object  to  fasten  upon,  he  literally  settles 
down  in  life  and  commences  building  him 
self  a  house  from  which  there  is  no  annual 
"  May  moving " — no  process  of  ejectment 
short  of  death. 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  95 

Talking  of  the  shell-fish  and  snails  of  the 
Southern  coast,  ITr.  Davis  referred  to  the 
beautiful  varieties  of  helix  (bullima  immaculata, 
very  rare,  and  bullima  oblongata]  that  may  be 
seen  feeding  on  the  wild  orange-trees  of 
Florida.  Also  to  the  sport  of  harpooning 
devil-fish  by  night,  first  attracting  them  to  the 
surface  by  a  fire  of  pine-knots  kindled  in  a 
cresset  over  the  bow  of  the  boat.  The  skin 
of  the  largest  devil-fish  ever  known,  he  said, 
had  been  preserved  in  Charleston,  its  weight 
when  caught  being  fourteen  hundred  pounds. 
Told  him  I  had  seen  one  caught  about  two 
years  before  weighing  over  six  hundred 
pounds,  and  the  old  negroes  of  the  island  said 
it  was  the  heaviest  they  had  seen.  He  talked 
of  the  molluscs  and  Crustacea  of  the  coast, 
this  appearing  a  favorite  subject,  and  his  re 
marks  being  much  pleasanter,  though  of  less 
interest,  than  when  given  a  political  complex 
ion.  He  possesses  a  large,  varied,  and  prac 
tical  education  ;  the  geology,  botany,  and  all 
products  of  his  section  appearing  to  have  in 
turn  claimed  his  attention.  Not  the  superfi- 


96  The  Prison  Life 

cial  study  of  a  pedant,  but  the  practical  ac 
quaintance  of  a  man  who  has  turned  every 
day's  fishing,  shooting,  riding,  or  pic-nicking, 
to  scientific  account. 

June  iQth. — Mr.  Davis  out  of  sorts,  very  ill- 
tempered.  Complained  that  his  clean  linen, 
to  be  sent  over  twice  a  week  by  General  Miles, 
had  not  been  received.  General  Miles  had 
taken  charge  of  his  clothing,  and  seemed  to 
think  a  change  of  linen  twice  a  week  enough. 
It  might  be  so  in  Massachusetts.  But  now 
even  this  wretched  allowance  was  denied. 
The  general  might  know  nothing  of  the  mat 
ter  ;  but  if  so,  some  member  of  his  staff  was  neg 
ligent.  It  was  pitiful  they  could  not  send  his 
trunks  to  his  cell,  but  must  insist  on  thus 
doling  out  his  clothes,  as  though  he  were  a 
convict  in  some  penitentiary.  If  the  object 
were  to  degrade  him,  it,  must  fail.  None 
could  be  degraded  by  unmerited  insult  heaped 
on  helplessness  but  the  perpetrators.  The 
day  would  come  that  our  people  would  be 
ashamed  of  his  treatment.  For  himself,  the 
sufferings  he  was  undergoing  would  do  him 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  97 

good  with  his  people  (the  South).  Even  those 
who  had  opposed  him  would  be  kept  silent, 
if  not  won  over,  by  public  sympathy.  What 
ever  other  opinions  might  be  held,  it  was  clear 
he  was  selected  as  chief  victim,  bearing  the 
burden  of  Northern  hatred  which  should  be 
more  equally  distributed. 

Speaking  of  the  negroes,  Mr.  Davis  re 
marked,  as  regards  their  future,  he  saw 
no  reason  why  they  must  die  out,  unless 
remaining  idle.  If  herded  together  in  idle 
ness  and  filth,  as  in  the  villages  established 
by  our  military  power,  the  small-pox,  licen 
tiousness,  and  drunkenness  would  make  short 
work  of  them.  Wherever  so  herded,  they 
had  died  off  like  sheep  with  the  murrain. 
But  remaining  on  the  plantations,  as  hereto- 
tofore,  and  employed  for  wages,  they  were  a 
docile  and  procreative  people,  altogether  differ 
ing  from  the  Indians,  and  not  likely  to  die  out 
like  the  latter.  Their  labor  was  needed  ;  and 
though  they  could  not  multiply  so  fast  in  free 
dom  as  under  their  former  wholesome  restraints, 
he  saw  no  good  argument  for  their  dying  out. 

5 


98  The  Prison  Life 

In  ten  years,  or  perhaps  less,  the  South  will 
have  recovered  the  pecuniary  losses  of  the 
war.  It  has  had  little  capital  in  manufac 
tures.  Its  capital  was  in  land  and  negroes. 
The  land  remains  productive  as  ever.  The 
negroes  remain,  but  their  labor  has  to  be  paid 
for.  Before  the  war,  there  had  been  4,000,000 
negroes,  average  value,  $500  each,  or  total  va 
lue,  two  thousand  millions  of  dollars.  This  was 
all  gone,  and  the  interest  upon  it,  which  had 
been  the  profits  of  the  negro's  labor  in  ex 
cess  of  his  cost  for  food,  clothing,  and  medi 
cines.  Still  their  labor  remains  ;  and  with  this, 
and  such  European  labor  as  will  be  imported 
and  such  Northern  labor  as  must  flow  South, 
the  profits  of  the  Southern  staples  will  not  be 
long  in  restoring  material  prosperity. 

The  profits  of  the  cotton  crop  are  enor 
mous.  Good  bottom  lands,  such  as  on  the 
Mississippi  and  Yazoo  rivers,  yield  a  bale  of 
400  Ibs.  per  acre,  and  some  as  high  as  a  bale 
and  a  quarter ;  but  this  is  rare.  The  uplands 
throughout  Georgia,  South  Carolina,  Alaba 
ma,  etc.,  yield  about  from  half  to  three-quar- 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  99 

ters  of  a  bale ;  and  under  the  old  system  of 
labor,  a  good  negro  averaged  ten  bales  a  sea 
son.  The  land  of  the  Sea  Islands  ran  about 
200  Ibs.  to  the  acre ;  but  its  fine,  long,  silky, 
and  durable  staple  made  it  from  twice  to  four 
times  the  value  of  other  cotton. 

In  his  freedom,  if  capable  of  being  made 
to  labor  at  all,  the  negro  will  not  average 
more  than  six  bales  a  year;  but  as  the  price 
of  cotton  has  more  than  doubled,  and  is  not 
likely  to  recede,  even  this  will  yield  an  enor 
mous  profit.  Six  bales,  of  400  Ibs.  each,  will 
be  worth  $600  at  twenty-five  cents  per  pound, 
while  the  cost  of  this  species  of  labor  will  be 
about  $150  a  year  per  hand  and  found — a 
profit  of  certainly  not -less  than  #300  a  year 
on  each  black  laborer  employed. 

The  land  will  not  pass  to  any  great  extent 
from  its  former  proprietors.  They  will  lease 
it  for  a  few  years  to  men  with  capital,  and 
then  resume  working  it  themselves ;  or  sell 
portions  of  it  with  the  same  object,  not 
materially  decreasing  their  own  possessions. 
When  the  country  is  quiet  and  the  profits  of 


ioo  The  Prison  Life 

the  crop  come  to  be  known,  there  will  be  a 
•rush  southward  from  the  sterile  New  Eng 
land  regions  and  from  Europe,  only  equalled 
by  that  to  California  on  the  discovery  of  gold. 
Men  will  not  stay  in  the  mountains  of  Ver 
mont  and  New  Hampshire  cultivating  little 
farms  of  from  fifty  to  a  hundred  acres,  only 
yielding  them  some  few  hundreds  a  year  pro 
fit  for  incessant  toil,  when  the  rich  lands  of 
the  South,  under  skies  as  warm  and  blue  as 
those  of  Italy,  and  with  an  atmosphere  as 
exhilarating  as  that  of  France,  are  thrown 
open  at  from  a  dollar  and  a  half  to  three  dol 
lars  per  acre.  The  water-power  of  the  South 
will  be  brought  into  use  by  this  new  immi 
gration,  and  manufactures  will  spring  up  in 
all  directions,  giving  abundant  employment 
to  all  classes.  The  happy  agricultural  state 
of  the  South  will  become  a  tradition ;  and 
with  New  England  wealth,  New  England's 
grasping  avarice  and  evil  passions  will  be 
brought  along. 

The  estimate  that  a  million  negroes  have 
died  off  during  the  war,  he  considered  exces- 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  101 

sive.  They  had  fled  or  been  dragged  away 
from  their  old  homes  in  great  numbers ;  but 
much  less  than  a  million,  he  thought,  would 
cover  their  casualties.  As  to  any  general 
mingling  of  the  races,  nature  had  erected 
ample  barriers  against  the  crime.  Depraved 
white  men  occasionally  had  children  by  black 
women ;  but  it  was  comparatively  rare  for 
mulattoes  to  have  large  or  healthy  families ; 
and  quadroons,  though  extremely  amorous, 
rarely  had  children  at  all.  There  could  be 
no  danger  that  Southern  white  women  of  the 
poorer  class,  though  left  greatly  in  excess  of 
the  white  male  population  by  the  war,  would 
either  cohabit  with  or  marry  negroes.  Public 
sentiment  on  the  point  is  so  strong  they  dare 
not  do  it ;  nor  had  they  any  inclination.  It  would 
be  regarded  South  as  crimes  against  nature  are 
regarded  in  all  civilized  communities. 

The  blacks  were  a  docile,  affectionate,  and 
religious  people,  like  cats  in  their  fondness 
for  home.  The  name  of  freedom  had  charms 
for  them ;  but  until  educated  to  be  self-sup 
porting,  it  would  be  a  curse.  If  herded  toge- 


IO2  The  Prison  Life 

ther  in  military  villages  and  fed  on  rations 
gratuitously  distributed,  rum,  dirt,  and  vene 
real  diseases  would  devour  them  off  the  face 
of  the  earth  in  a  few  years.  With  peace 
established,  they  would  return,  in  ninety-five 
cases  out  of  the  hundred,  to  their  old  planta 
tions,  and  .work  for  their  old  masters.  Free 
dom  was  to  them  an  orgie,  of  which  such  as 
had  enjoyed  it  were  rapidly  sickening.  While 
health  lasted,  and  idleness  was  saved  its 
penalty  by  government  support,  they  migh4 
get  along  well  enough.  But  when  sick,  starv  . 
ing,  and  ill-treated,  their  first  wish  was  a  long 
ing  to  be  back  with  their  old  masters,  and 
redomiciled  on  their  old  plantations.  Of  this, 
even  during  the  war,  and  at  penalty  of  return 
ing  to  slavery,  he  had  seen  many  instances — 
enough  to  convince  him  that  with  freedom 
assured,  or  rather  its  evils  to  them  in  their 
unprepared  state  better  understood — the  great 
majority  of  the  blacks  would  flock  back- 
eagerly. 

Mr.  Davis  said  he  heard  my  little  daughtei 
had  undertaken  to  be  his  housekeeper,  and 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  103 

sent  over  his  meals.  He  knew  the  kind  hand 
of  woman  was  always  tenderest  in  the  great 
est  grief.  It  only  needed  they  should  see 
misery  to  wish  and  labor  for  its  relief,  unless 
some  great  moral  turpitude  repelled.  He 
begged  me  to  carry  the  assurance  of  his  gra 
titude,  and  hoped — if  he  might  never  see  her 
himself — that  his  children  would  some  day 
have  opportunity  to  thank  j;he  young  lady 
who  had  been  so  kind  to  their  father. 


IO4  The  Prison  Life 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Mr.  Davis  on  Cruelly  lo  Prisoners. — Mexico. 
—  Turtle  on  the  Southern  Coast. —  The 
Southern  Leaders  an  Aristocracy. — Lecture 
on  the  Fine  Arts,  by  a  Strange  Man  in  a 
Strange  Place. 

JUNE  nth.— Called  with  Captain  R.  W.  Bick- 
ley,  3d  Pennsylvania  Artillery,  Officer  of  the 
Day.  Mr.  Davis  still  improving,  febrile  symp 
toms  abated,  and  had  slept,  for  him,  very  well 
the  night  before.  Thanked  me  for  some  fruit 
sent  with  his  breakfast,  and  then  spoke  of  the 
fruits  of  the  tropics  and  their  beautiful  adap 
tation  to  the  wants  of  the  inhabitants.  Also 
of  Mexico,  its  climate  and  productions ;  a 
land  for  which  God  had  done  everything,  and 
"  where  only  man  was  vile."  Considered  the 
Mexicans  not  capable  of  self-government; 
they  must  be  cared  for,  and  it  belonged  to 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  105 

America  to  protect  them.  Had  the  South 
succeeded  without  the  help  of  France,  this 
would  have  been  one  of  his  first  cares,  and 
he  should  not  have  hesitated  a  moment. 
The  South  having  failed,  leaving  the 
North  more  powerful  than  ever,  the  duty 
of  establishing  a  continental  protectorate 
was  imperative,  and  could  not  long  be 
evaded. 

Mr.  Davis  remarked  that  when  his  tray  of 
breakfast  had  been  brought  in  that  morning, 
he  overheard  some  soldiers  in  the  guard-room 
outside  commenting  on  the  food  given  our 
prisoners  during  the  late  war.  To  hold  him 
responsible  for  this  was  worse  than  absurd — 
criminally  false.  For  the  last  two  years  of 
the  war,  Lee's  army  had  never  more  than 
half,  and  was  oftener  on  quarter  rations  of 
rusty  bacon  and  corn.  It  was  yet  worse  with 
other  Southern  armies  when  operating  in  a 
country  which  had  been  campaigned  over 
any  time.  Sherman,  with  a  front  of  thirty  or 
forty  miles,  breaking  into  a  new  country, 

found  no  trouble  in  procuring  food ;  but  had 

5* 


io6  The  Prison  Life 

he  halted  anywhere,  even  for  a  single  week 
must  have  starved.  Marching  every  day,  his 
men  eat  out  a  new  section,  and  left  behind 
them  a  starving  wilderness. 

Colonel  Northrop,  his  Commissary-Gene 
ral,  had  many  difficulties  to  contend  with ; 
and,  not  least,  the  incessant  hostility  of  cer 
tain  opponents  of  his  administration,  who,  by 
striking  at  Northrop,  really  meant  to  strike 

at  him.      Even   General  ,  otherwise    so 

moderate  and  conservative,  was  finally  in 
duced  to  join  this  injurious  clamor.  There 
was  food  in  the  Confederacy,  but  no  means 
for  its  collection,  the  holders  hiding  it  after 
the  currency  had  become  depreciated ;  and, 
if  collected,  then  came  the  difficulty  of  its 
transportation.  Their  railroads  were  over 
taxed,  and  the  rolling-stock  soon  gave  out. 
They  could  not  feed  their  own  troops ;  and 
prisoners  of  war  in  all  countries  and  ages 
have  had  cause  of  complaint.  Some  of  his 
people  confined  in  the  West  and  at  Look 
out  Point,  had  been  nearly  starved  at  certain 
times,  though  he  well  knew,  or  well  believed, 


of  Jefferson  Davis  107 

full  prison-rations  had  been  ordered  and  paid 
for  in  these  cases. 

Herd  men  together  in  idleness  within  an 
inclosure,  their  arms  taken  from  them,  their 
organization  lost,  without  employment  for 
their  time,  and  you  will  find  it  difficult  to 
keep  them  in  good  health.  They  were  or 
dered  to  receive  precisely  the  same  rations 
given  to  the  troops  guarding  them ;  but  dis 
honest  Commissaries  and  Provost-Marshals 
were  not  confined  to  any  people.  Doubtless 
the  prisoners  on  both  sides  often  suffered 
that  the  officers  having  charge  of  them  might 
grow  rich ;  but  wherever  such  dishonesty 
could  be  brought  home,  prompt  punishment 
followed.  General  Winder  and  Colonel  Nor- 
throp  did  the  best  they  could,  he  believed ; 
but  both  were  poorly  obeyed  or  seconded  by 
their  subordinates.  To  hold  him  responsible 
for  such  unauthorized  privations  was  both 
cruel  and  absurd.  He  issued  order  after 
order  on  the  subject,  and,  conscious  of  the 
extreme  difficulty  of  feeding  the  prisoners, 
made  the  most  liberal  offers  for  exchange — 


io8  The  Prison  Life 

almost  willing  to  accept  any  terms  that  would 
release  his  people  from  their  burden.  Non- 
exchange,  however,  was  the  policy  adopted 
by  the  Federal  Government — just  as  Austria, 
in  her  later  campaigns  against  Frederick  the 
Great,  refused  to  exchange ;  her  calculation 
being,  that  as  her  population  was  five  times 
more  numerous  than  Prussia's,  the  refusal  to 
exchange  would  be  a  wise  measure.  That  it 
may  have  been  prudent,  though  inhuman, 
situated  as  the  South  was,  he  was  not  pre 
pared  to  deny ;  but  protested  against  being 
held  responsible  for  evils  which  no  power  of 
his  could  avert,  and  to  escape  from  which 
almost  any  concessions  had  been  offered. 

Anxious  to  hear  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Davis 
about  the  future  of  Mexico,  I  brought  back 
the  conversation  to  that  point,  suggesting  that 
when  the  country  became  quiet,  and  with  our 
continual  influx  of  European  immigration,  we 
might  have  men  and  enterprise  enough  to  re 
settle  Mexico,  and  colonize  out  the  present 
indolent  and  inefficient  race. 

"  The    programme    might     answer, "     lie 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  109 

thought,  "  for  the  thinly  peopled  parts,  though 
even  there  its  fulfillment  must  be  in  the  re 
mote  future.  When  the  Valley  is  reached, 
however,  the  population  is  comparatively 
dense — twenty  to  the  square  mile ;  and  politi 
cal  economy  teaches  that  no  people  so  nume 
rous  can  be  crushed  out  by  colonization.  A 
new  race  must  come  in  to  master  and  guide 
them,  using  the  present  generation  as  hewers 
of  wood  and  drawers  of  water,  while  educat 
ing  the  next  generation  for  a  happier  and 
more  intelligent  future.  It  was  on  a  recogni 
tion  of  this  necessity  the  French  Emperor 
based  his  scheme  of  European  protection;  but 
in  failing  to  make  terms  with  the  seceded 
States,  and  support  them  in  their  struggle,  he 
proved  that  his  comprehension  was  not  equal 
to  the  problem.  The  failure  of  the  South 
rendered  a  future  of  European  rule  for  Mexico 
impossible." 

June  14^/2. — Visited  prisoner  in  company 
with  Captain  Evans,  Officer  of  the  Day.  Pre 
scribed  for  some  slight  return  of  nervous 
headache  and  sleeplessness.  Referring  to 


no  The  Prison  Life 

our  previous  conversation  about  the  shell-fish, 
etc.,  of  the  Southern  coast,  Mr.  Davis  said 
that  books  of  a  scientific  nature,  if  allowed 
him,  would  keep  his  attention  occupied,  and 
could  do  no  harm.  Would  be  glad  to  have 
a  few  volumes  on  the  conchology,  geology,  or 
botany  of  the  South,  and  was  at  a  loss  to 
think  how  such  volumes  could  endanger  his 
safe-keeping. 

Said  that  the  loggerhead-turtle  appeared  a 
contradiction  of  the  rule  that  nature  makes 
no  vain  effort — nothing  that  had  not  a  per 
ceivable  use.  Here,  however,  was  an  animal 
averaging  from  one  to  three  hundred  pounds 
weight,  very  plentiful  from  Hatteras  to  the 
Gulf,  for  which  human  ingenuity  had  yet 
found  no  use.  But  what  part  it  may  perform 
in  the  economy  of  the  ocean  must  of  course 
remain  a  mystery.  That  it  had  some  useful 
mission  amongst  the  denizens  of  the  deep,  all 
analogy  would  lead  us  to  believe.  Early  in 
the  spring  they  come  up  from  the  Caribbean 
Sea  and  Gulf  of  Mexico,  only  approaching 
the  shore  to  lay  their  eggs  .when  the  high 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  1 1 1 

tide  serves  just  after  dusk  of  the  evening, 
The  male  then  remains  at  the  edge  of  the 
surf,  while  the  female  crawls  up  the  beach  to 
find  a  proper  place  for  laying.  The  place 
being  selected,  she  first  makes  a  hole  with 
her  head;  then  increases  its  size  to  about  that 
of  a  peck  measure,  by  putting  one  of  her  fore- 
fins  into  it,  and  twisting  herself  around  until 
the  required  space  has  been  scooped  out. 
The  eggs  are  then  laid,  about  200  in  number, 
nearly  the  bulk  of  a  hen's  egg  each,  but  with  a 
soft,  pliable,  and  very  tough  white  skin.  This 
done,  she  packs  sand  over  them  to  the  proper 
depth,  and  smoothes  the  place  by  crawling 
over  it  several  times  with  heavy  pressure. 

Of  these  eggs,  when  undisturbed,  about 
eighty  per  cent,  are  hatched  ;  in  some  four  or 
five  weeks  swarms  of  little  turtle  suddenly 
breaking  out,  each  about  the  size  and  color  of 
a  ginger-snap,  and  hurrying  towards  the  water 
with  infallible  instinct.  The  eggs  have  three 
active  and  powerful  enemies — the  coon,  the 
crow,  and  the  negro.  The  coon  hunts  the 
turtle-nest  by  smell;  as  a  certain  breed  of  dogs 


112  The  Prison  Life 

in  France  hunt  the  truffle,  and  having  taken 
his  first  meal,  leaves  the  nest  open  to  the 
crows,  who  are  not  long  in  finishing  what 
may  be  left.  The  negroes  search  the  shores 
every  morning  at  daylight  in  this  season,  and 
when  they  find  the  track  made  by  a  turtle's 
flippers  follow  it  up  to  where  the  nest  is 
buried,  prodding  into  the  sand  with  a  long 
stick  until  it  is  found,  and  carrying  off  the  con 
tents.  .The  loggerhead  is  famous  for  its  longe 
vity,  and  occasionally  weighs  from  four  to  six 
hundred  pounds. 

Speaking  of  the  peculiarities  of  his  people 
— as  he  always  styled  the  late  Confederate 
States — Mr.  Davis  said  they  were  essentially 
aristocratic,  their  aristocracy  being  based  on 
birth  and  education ;  while  the  men  of  the 
North  were  democratic  in  the  mass,  making 
money  the  basis  of  their  power  and  standard 
to  which  they  aspired.  It  always  commanded 
a  premium  socially,  and  was  accepted  in  lack 
of  other  qualities.  No  matter  how  ill-bred  or 
base,  no  man  possessed  of  wealth  who  had 
not  been  made  judicially  infamous,  was  ex- 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  1 1 3 

eluded  from  northern  society.  This  nioney- 
element  entered  into  the  politics  of  the 
North,  while  at  the  South  it  was,  and  always 
had  been,  powerless.  At  northern  primary 
elections  and  nominating  conventions,  the 
reins  were  for  him  who  had  money  to  pay  for 
being  allowed  control ;  and  the  power  thus  ob 
tained  by  money  was  used  to  get  back  what  it 
had  cost,  and  to  treble  that  sum  during  its 
tenure. 

Birth  is  a  guarantee  we  do  not  ignore  in 
raising  stock,  nor  should  we  in  growing  men. 
Which  should  be  more  important — the  pedi 
gree  of  a  horse  on  which  we  stake  our 
money,  or  that  of  a  man  we  are  asked  to 
select  for  some  position  of  control  ?  The 
basis  of  political  prominence  at  the  North 
has  been  money  first,  and  secondly  loqua 
ciousness,  effrontery,  the  arts  of  the  dema 
gogue  ;  while  at  the  South — except  in  the 
case  of  shining  talents  lifting  some  individual 
to  eminence  by  their  force — birth,  education, 
and  representative  rather  than  noisy  or 
showy  qualities,  formed  the  ladder  to  distino 


1 1 4  The  Prison  Life 

tion.     No  one  could  fail  to  be  impressed  with 
this  difference  while  attending  our  National 
Conventions,  Congress,  or  any  other  body  in 
which    the    two    sections    were    represented. 
He  must  not  be  misunderstood  as  wishing  to 
imply  that  we  had  no  good  blood,  no  educa 
tion,  no  culture  at  the  North — far  from  it,  for 
he  knew  we  had  all  in  abundance ;  but  under 
our  political  system,  and  owing  to   the  vast 
influx    of   a    foreign    population,    they   were 
excluded  from  our  public  or   representative 
life.     In   a  word,  prominence  at  the    North 
has,  of  late,  been  obtained  either  by  money 
of    the    man    made    prominent,    or    that    he 
served    the    money   interests    of   those   who 
pushed   his   elevation.     This  evil  must   con 
tinually  increase  with  the  increase  of  immi 
gration  ;  while  at  the  South,  birth,  education, 
and  intelligence  had  been  the  chief  usual  ele 
ments  of  political  distinction — the  first  neces 
sity   being,    however,    that  the  man  selected 
should  be  a  true  representative  of  the  views 
of  his  constituency,  whether  those  views  were 
right  or  wrong  according  to  northern  notions. 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  1 1  5 

To  this  representative  quality,  Mr.  Davis 
went  on,  were  due  the  various  positions  with 
which  the  South  had  honored  him.  His 
selection  to  the  chief  office  of  the  Confe 
deracy  was  in  no  manner  sought.  The  rea 
sons  inspiring  the  choice  were  obvious.  He 
was  a  Mississippian ;  had  graduated  at  the 
Military  Academy ;  served  with  some  dis 
tinction  in  the  Mexican  war ;  had  large  expe 
rience  in  the  military  committee  of  the  Se 
nate,  and  in  the  War  Department.  But  one 
of  his  chief  recommendations  lay  in  this, 
that  after  the  removal  of  Calhoun  and  Gen 
eral  Quitman  by  death,  he  became  the  chief 
exponent  or  representative  of  those  princi 
ples  of  State  Sovereignty  which  the  South 
cherished,  and  of  which,  as  he  claimed,  the 
Fathers  of  the  country  had  been  the  found 
ers,  Thomas  Jefferson  the  inspired  prophet, 
and  they  the  eloquent  apostles.  He  was  cer 
tainly  not  more  responsible  for  his  own  eleva 
tion  than  any  of  those  who  had  voted  to 
make  him  President. 

June  1 7^. — Visited  Mr.  Davis  with  Cap- 


n6  The  Prison  Life 

tain  Korte,  Officer  of  the  Day.  General 
Miles,  learning  that  the  pacing  of  the  two 
sentinels  in  his  room  at  n'jfnt  disturbed  Mr. 
Davis  and  prevented  his  sleeping,  gave  orders 

that  the  men   should    stand  at  ease  during 

<^> 

their  two  hours  of  guard,  both  night  and 
day,  instead  of  pacing  their  accustomed  beat. 
This,  Mr.  Davis  said,  was  much  pleasanter 
for  him,  but  cruel  for  the  men  obliged  to 
stand  so  long  in  one  position,  as  if  they  had 
been  bronze  or  marble  statues.  Feared,  as  it 
cost  them  suffering,  it  would  make  them  hate 
him  more,  as  the  cause — though  innocent — 
of  their  inconvenient  attitude ;  and  there 
were  plenty  of  men  wearing  uniforms  of  that 
color  who  hated  him  more  than  enough 

o 

already. 

From '  this  point  Mr.  Davis  glided  off  to 
some  considerations  of  statuary,  commenting 
on  the  growing  taste  for  representing  animals, 
birds  and  men,  in  painful  or  impossible  atti 
tudes  in  the  basso-relievos,  bronzes,  and  other 
ornaments  of  modern  sculpture.  Stricken 
deer  contorted  by  death-wounds ;  horses  with 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  1 1 7 

sides  lacerated  by  the  claws  of  a  clinging 
tiger;  partridges,  or  other  birds,  choking  in 
snares  or  pierced  with  arrows  ;  dying  Indians, 
wounded  gladiators,  dying  soldiers — pain  01 
death  in  every  variety  of  grade,  seemed  to 
form  the  present  staples  for  popular  bronze 
and  Parian  ornament.  Our  sculptors  made 
their  horses  stand  eternally  with  fore-paws 
poised  in  air  in  an  attitude  only  possible  for 
a  moment  to  the  living  animal.  Such  works 
were  not  pleasing,  but  the  reverse.  They 
fretted  the  sensibilities  with  petty  pain,  and 
lacked '  the  repose  which  should  form  the 
chief  charm  of  sculpture.  The  groups  of  the 
Laocoon  and  Dying  Gladiator  were  the  only 
eminent  works  of  antiquity  of  which  he  had 
heard  or  seen  casts,  in  which  pain  or  horror 
had  been  the  elements  depicted ;  and  in  these 
the  treatment  had  been  so  overwhelmingly 
grand  as  to  numb  the  sense  of  suffering  by 
the  splendor  of  their  beauty.  For  modern 
sculpture,  however — the  statuary  designed  for 
parlor  ornaments — he  wished  to  see  more 
pleasant  themes.  The  agony  of  a  wounded 


u8  The  Prison  Life 

deer  or  bird  could  have  nothing  to  recom 
mend  it  but  the  fidelity  of  imitation  with 
which  the  agony  was  portrayed ;  while  in  the 
Laocoon,  there  was  the  titanic  struggle  of  the 
father  to  free  his  children  from  the  coils  of 
the  serpent,  and  behind  the  Dying  Gladiator 
rose  up  the  gazing  circles  of  the  amphi 
theatre — each  subject  wakening  trains  of 
thought  and  emotion  which  concealed  our 
sense  of  physical  pain,  or  only  allowed  it  to 
obtrude  as  a  sort  of  undertone,  or  diapason, 
to  the  awful  beauty  of  the  picture. 

Mr.  Davis,  on  this  subject,  was  really  elo 
quent,  showing  a  keen  appreciation  of  art, 
and  I  only  regret  that  my  notes  report  him 
so  imperfectly.  It  struck  me  as  a  strange 
place  for  such  a  dissertation,  a  strange  man 
strangely  circumstanced  to  be  its  author,  and 
a  strange  incident — two  armed  soldiers  stand 
ing  like  statues  within  a  cell,  to  have  given 
origin  in  such  a  mind  to  a  lecture  on  the 
aesthetics  of  repose  applied  to  modern  sculp- 
ture. 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  1 1 9 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Mr.  Davis  on  Gen.  Butler  and  Dutch  Gap. — 
He  denies  that  Secession  was  Treason. — His 
Opinion  of  Grant,  McClellan,  Pope,  and 
other  Union  Officers ;  also  of  Bragg,  Lee 
and  Pemberton. — His  Flight  from  Richmond 
and  Arrest. 

JUNE  \%th — Called  on  Mr.  Davis  with  Cap 
tain  Jerome  E.  Titlow,  Officer  of  the  Day. 
Found  him  continuing  to  improve  in  general 
health — much  stronger  than  he  had  been  on 
his  arrival.  Complained  of  a  stricture  or 
tightening  of  the  chest,  accompanied  by  a  dry 
cough.  Ordered  him  to  exercise  his  arms  by 
swinging  them  back  and  forth  horizontally 
twice  or  thrice  a  day. 

Standing  at  the  embrasure,  the  white  sails 
of  a  passing  vessel  suggested  the  trade  and  com 
merce  of  the  James,  for  the  mouth  of  which  it 


I2O  The  Prison  Life 

appeared  steering.  Together  in  fancy  we  reas- 
cended  the  banks  of  the  river,  with  which  Mr. 
Davis  was  familiar.  He  asked  the  fate  of  all 
the  beautiful  plantations  along  its  shores ;  of 
Brandon  belonging  to  the  Harrisons  on  the 
south  bank,  a  place  Gen.  Butler  had  harried ; 
of  Westover;  and  beautiful  Shirley  on  the 
north  bank,  just  opposite  Bermuda  Hundreds, 
belonging  to  that  noble  Virginian  of  the  old 
school,  Mr.  Hill  Carter.  Told  Mr.  Davis  it 
was  the  only  one  left  standing,  in  all  its  beauti 
ful  antiquity,  of  the  palaces  that  once  lined  the 
James.  Carter  had  been  kind  to  the  wounded 
of  McClellan's  soldiers  and  had  taken  no  part 
in  the  war,  though  very  possibly  a  Southern 
man  in  sentiment.  His  place  consequently 
had  been  not  only  spared  from  incursion,  but 
guarded  with  jealous  care  by  daily  details,  and 
was  the  green  spot  in  the  desert  made  by  the 
movements  of  contending  armies. 

Talking  of  Gen.  Butler,  said  Mr.  Davis,  with 
a  smile,  Richmond  owes  him  something,  if 
only  for  giving  it  the  best  joke  of  the  war.  He 
referred  to  the  Dutch  Gap  Canal,  considered 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  1 2 1 

as  a  war-measure,  for  as  a  commercial  one, 
improving  the  navigation  of  the  James,  it  was 
full  of  advantage.  It  was  a  task  imposing 
great  hardships  upon  many  thousand  soldiers  ; 
and  must  have  been  inspired  by  Grant's  simi 
lar  attempt  to  change  the  course  of  the  Mis 
sissippi  at  Vicksburg.  If  successful,  the  canal 
only  avoided  one  battery,  Fort  Hewlett,  which 
might  have  been  carried  by  a  resolute  effort ; 
nor  could  any  of  us  understand  what  adequate 
object  could  be  gained  by  it  when  completed. 
The  James,  from  Dutch  Gap  to  Richmond, 
was  too  shallow  for  gun-boats;  was  paved  with 
torpedoes,  and  obstructed  in  every  conceivable 
manner.  Besides,  the  works  at  Chapin's  and 
Drury's  Bluffs  would  still  remain. 

Commercially,  the  canal  might  be  of  great 
value  to  Richmond.  The  loop  of  the  river 
which  it  cut  off — about  seven  miles  in  length 
— formed  the  shallowest  and  most  intricate 
part  of  its  navigation,  from  Rockett's  to  the 
sea.  By  making  a  lock  of  the  Dutch  Gap 
Canal,  and  throwing  a  dam  across  the  river 
just  below  the  higher  lock,  the  water  up  to 


122  The  Prison  Life 

Richmond  might  be  permanently  raised  two 
feet  and  placed  beyond  tidal  influence,  thus 
allowing  vessels  of  ten  or  eleven  feet  draft  to 
reach  the  city  in  all  stages  of  the  tide,  while 
at  present  vessels  drawing  even  eight  or  nine 
feet  can  only  with  extreme  difficulty  be 
brought  up  at  high  tide.  Commercially,  the 
canal  was  good  ;  but  as  a  war-measure,  of  1*0 
value. 

Mr.  Davis  said  it  was  contrary  to  reason, 
and  the  law  of  nations,  to  treat  as  a  rebellion, 
or  lawless  riot,  a  movement  which  had  been 
the  deliberate  action  of  an  entire  people 
through  their  duly  organized  State  govern 
ments.  To  talk  of  treason  in  the  case  of  the 
South,  was  to  oppose  an  arbitrary  epithet 
against  the  authority  of  all  writers  on  interna 
tional  law.  Vattel  deduces  from  his  study  of 
all  former  precedent — and  all  subsequent  in 
ternational  jurists  have  agreed  with  him — 
that  when  a  nation  separates  into  two  parts, 
each  claiming  independence,  and  both  or 
either  setting  up  a  new  government,  their 
quarrel,  should  it  come  to  trial  by  arms  or  by 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  123 

diplomacy,  shall  be  regarded  and  settled  pre 
cisely  as  though  it  were  a  difference  between 
two  separate  nations,  which  the  divided  sec 
tions,  de  facto,  have  become.  Each  must  ob 
serve  the  laws  of  war  in  the  treatment  of 
captives  taken  in  battle,  and  such  negotiations 
as  may  from  time  to  time  arise  shall  be  con 
ducted  as  between  independent  and  sovereign 
powers.  Mere  riots,  or  conspiracies  for  law 
less  objects,  in  which  only  limited  fractions 
of  a  people  are  irregularly  engaged,  may  be 
properly  treated  as  treason,  and  punished  as 
the  public  good  may  require  ;  but  Edmund 
Burke  had  exhausted  argument  on  the  sub 
ject,  in  his  memorable  phrase,  applied  to  the 
first  American  movement  for  independence  : 
"  I  know  not  how  an  indictment  against  a 
whole  people  shall  be  framed." 

But  for  Mr.  Lincoln's  untimely  death,  Mr. 
Davis  thought,  there  could  have  been  no 
question  raised  upon  the  subject.  That  event 
— more  a  calamity  to  the  South  than  North, 
in  the  time  and  manner  of  its  transpiring — 
had  inflamed  popular  passions  to  the  highest 


124  The  Prison  Life 

pitch,  and  made  the  people  of  the  section 
which  had  lost  their  chief  now  seek  as  an 
equivalent  the  life  of  the  chief  of  the  section 
conquered.  This  was  an  impulse  of  passion, 
not  a  conclusion  which  judgment  or  justice 
could  support.  Mr.  Lincoln,  through  his  en 
tire  administration,  had  acknowledged  the 
South  as  a  belligerent  nationality,  exchanging 
prisoners  of  war,  establishing  truces,  and 
sometimes  sending,  sometimes  receiving,  pro 
positions  for  peace.  On  the  last  of  these  oc 
casions,  accompanied  by  the  chief  member  of 
his  cabinet,  he  had  personally  met  the  Com 
missioners  appointed  by  the  Southern  States 
to  negotiate,  going  half  way  to  meet  them 
not  far  from  where  Mr.  Davis  now  stood ;  and 
the  negotiations  of  Gen.  Grant  with  Gen. 
Lee,  just  preceding  the  latter's  surrender, 
most  distinctly  and  clearly  pointed  to  the 
promise  of  a  general  amnesty ;  Gen.  Grant, 
in  his  final  letter,  expressing  the  hope  that, 
with  Lee's  surrender,  "  all  difficulties  between 
the  sections  might  be  settled  without  the  loss 
of  another  life,"  or  words  to  that  effect. 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  125 

To  my  question  what  he  thought  of  Gen. 
eral  Grant,  Mr.  Davis  replied  that  he  was  a 
great  soldier  beyond  doubt,  but  of  a  new 
school.  If  he  had  not  started  with  an  enor 
mous  account  in  bank,  his  checks  would 
have  been  dishonored  before  the  culmination 
was  reached.  At  Shiloh  he  was  defeated  the 
first  day,  and  would  have  been  destroyed  or 
compelled  to  surrender  next  morning,  but  for 
Buell's  timely  arrival  with  a  fresh  and  well- 
disciplined  reinforcement,  the  strength  of 
which  had  been  variously  stated. 

When  Secretary  of  War,  he  thought 
McClellan  the  ablest  officer  in  the  army, 
and  had  employed  him  on  two  important 
services — as  Military  Commissioner  in  the 
Crimea,  and  to  explore  a  route  for  the 
Pacific  railroad — both  of  which  duties  had 
been  discharged  in  a  manner  to  increase 
his  reputation.  He  organized  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac  admirably,  but  it  required  a 
commander  of  more  dash  to  wield  the 
weapon  in  the  field.  McClellan's  caution 
amounted  very  closely  to  timidity — moral 


126  The  Prison  Life 

timidity,  for  he  was  personally  brave.  On 
his  first  landing  in  the  Peninsula  there  had 
been  only  7,000  troops  to  meet  him,  and 
these  he  should  have  rushed  upon  and  over 
whelmed  at  whatever  cost.  Cautious,  and 
wishing  to  spare  the  blood  of  his  men,  ho 
commenced  a  regular  siege  at  Yorktown 
giving  his  enemies  time  to  concentrate  suffi 
cient  numbers  and  drive  him  back.  As  a 
magnanimous  enemy  he  respected  McClellan, 
but  thought  he  had  been  promoted  too  rap 
idly  for  his  own  good — before  he  had  ripened 
in  command  and  gained  the  experience  requi 
site  for  the  supreme  position.  Had  he  been 
kept  in  a  subordinate  capacity  the  two  first 
years  of  the  war,  rising  from  a  division  to  a 
corps,  and  thence  to  command  in  chief,  he 
would  have  been  the  greatest  of  our  soldiers. 
He  had  the  best  natural  gifts  and  highest 
intellectual  training,  and  was  just  becoming 
fitted,  and  the  best  fitted,  for  his  position 
when  removed.  Had  he  been  supported  by 
the  government  he  might  have  taken  Rich 
mond  two  years  earlier,  and  it  was  with  joy 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  127 

Mr  Davis  heard  of  his  removal  after  the  bat 
tles  of  South  Mountain  and  Antietam.  Such 
sacrifices  of  officers  to  the  ignorance  of  an 
unwarlike  people,  anxious  to  find  in  him  a 
scapegoat  for  their  own  lack  of  discipline  or 
endurance,  were  unavoidable  in  the  early 
stages  of  every  popular  war. 

Pope,  while  Secretary  of  War,  he  had 
never  been  able  to  make  serviceable,  and 
Pope  held  his  own  gallantly.  His-  mind  was 
not  less  inflated  than  his  body.  He  was  a 
kind  of  American  gascon,  but  with  good  sci 
entific  attainments.  Sumner  and  Sedgwick 
were  gallant  and  able  soldiers — excellent  com 
manders  in  action,  courteous  and  reliable  in 
all  the  relations  of  life.  Hunter,  of  whom  I 
asked  him  specially  as  one  of  my  old  com 
manders,  was  his  beau  ideal  of  the  military 
gentleman — the  soul .  of  integrity,  intrepidity, 
true  Christian  piety  and  honor.  Mr.  Davis 
had  long  been  associated  with  him,  both  in 
the  service  and  socially,  and  believed  Hun 
ter's  want  of  success  due  in  a  great  measure 
to  his  unwillingness  to  bend  to  anything 


128  The  Prison  Life 

mean  or  sinister.  He  was  rash,  impulsive  ;  a 
man  of  action  rather  than  thought;  yielding 
to  passions  which  he  regarded  as  divine  in 
stincts  or  intuitions — the  natural  temper  of  a 
devotee  or  fanatic. 

Of  the  officers  on  the  Confederate  side, 
Mr.  Davis  spoke  in  high  terms  of  General 
Lee,  as  a  great  soldier  and  pure,  Christian 
gentleman  ;  also,  in  praise  of  Bragg  and  Pem- 
berton,  though  the  two  latter,  from  unavoida 
ble  circumstances  and  the  hostility  of  the  par 
ty  opposed  to  Mr.  Davis,  had  not  been  ac 
corded  the  position  due  to  their  talents  by 
public  opinion  in  either  section.  Pemberton 
made  a  splendid  defence  of  Vicksburg,  and 
might  have  been  relieved  if  the  officer  com 
manding  the  army  sent  to  relieve  him  (Gene 
ral  Johnson)  had  not  failed  to  obey  the  posi 
tive  orders  to  attack  General  Grant  which 
Mr.  Sedrlon,  then  Secretary  of  War,  had  sent. 
If  the  same  officer,  who  was  upheld  in  com 
mand  by  the  anti-administration  party,  had 
vigorously  attacked  Sherman  at  Atlanta  when 
directed,  the  fortunes  of  the  war  would  have 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  129 

been  changed,  and  Sherman  hurled  back  to 
Nashville,  over  a  sterile  and  wasted  country 
— his  retreat  little  less  disastrous  than  Napo 
leon's  from  Moscow.  He  did  not  do  so,  and 
was  relieved — General  Hood,  a  true  and  spir 
ited  soldier,  taking  his  place — but  the  oppor 
tunity  was  then  gone ;  and  to  this  de 
lay,  mor#  than  to  any  other  cause,  the 
Southern  people  will  attribute  their  over 
throw,  whenever  history  comes  to  be  truly 
written. 

Bragg's  victory  over  Rosecrans  at  Chicka- 
mauga,  Mr.  Davis  regarded  as  one  of  the 
most  brilliant  achievements  of  the  war,  con 
sidering  the  disparity  of  the  forces.  The 
subsequent  concentration  of  Grant  and 
Hooker  with  Rosecrans,  and  the  victory  of 
their  combined  forces  at  Lookout  Mountain, 
was  the  result  of  an  audacity  or  desperation 
which  no  military  prudence  could  have  fore 
seen.  So  confident  was  Bragg  in  the  impreg 
nability  of  his  position,  that  immediately  after 
Chickamauga  he  detached  Longstreet,  with 
16,000  men — about  a  third  of  his  entire  force 


130  The  Prison  Life 

— to  make  a  demonstration  against  Knoxville 
thus  indirectly  threatening  Grant's  communi 
cations  with  Nashville.  Bragg's  position  was 
finally  carried  by  the  overwhelming  numbers 
of  the  enemy.  The  opponents  of  his  admin 
istration  censured  Bragg  for  detaching  Long- 
street,  but  the  subsequent  events  which  made 
that  movement  unfortunate  were  of  a  cha 
racter  which  no  prudence  could  have  foreseen, 
no  military  calculation  taken  into  view  as 
probable. 

All  such  reflections  were  idle,  however,  con 
cluded  Mr.  Davis,  and  he  must  not  be  again 
betrayed  into  their  indulgence.  Success  is 
virtue  and  defeat  crime.  This  is  the  philoso 
phy  of  life — at  least  the  only  one  the  great 
masses  of  mankind  feel  ready  to  accept.  Woe 
to  the  conquered  is  no  less  a  popular  cry  in 
the  nineteenth  century  than  when  the  barba 
rians  first  yelled  it  as  they  swarmed  with  drip 
ping  swords  to  the  sack  of  Rome. 

Mr.  Davis  then  spoke  of  the  circumstances 
attending  his  flight  from  Richmond. 

On  leaving  Richmond  he  went  first  to  Dan- 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  1 3 1 

ville,  because  it  was  intended  that  Lee  should 
have  moved  in  that  direction,  falling  back  to 
make  a  junction  with  Johnson's  force  in  the 
direction  of  Roanoke  River.  Grant,  however, 
pressed  forwaid  so  rapidly,  and  swung  so  far 
around,  that  Lee  was  obliged  to  retreat  in  the 
direction  of  Lynchburg  with  his  main  force, 
while  his  vanguard,  which  arrived  at  Danville, 
insisted  on  falling  back  and  making  the  rally- 
ing-point  at  Charlotte  in  North  Carolina. 

In  Danville  Mr.  Davis  learned  of  Lee's  sur 
render.  Immediately  started  for  Goldsboro', 
where  he  met  and  had  a  -  consultation  with 
Gen.  Johnson,  thence  going  on  south.  At 
Lexington  he  received  a  dispatch  from  John 
son  requesting  that  the  Secretary  of  War 
(Gen.  Breckinridge)  should  repair  to  his  head 
quarters  near  Raleigh — Gen.  Sherman  having 
submitted  a  proposition  for  laying  down  arms 
which  was  too  comprehensive  in  its  scope  for 
any  mere  military  commander  to  decide  upon. 
Breckinridge  and  Postmaster-General  Reagan 
immediately  started  for  Johnson's  camp,  where 
Sherman  submitted  the  terms  of  surren- 


132  The  Prison  Lift 

der  on  which  an  armistice  was  declared — the 
same  terms  subsequently  disapproved  by  the 
authorities  at  Washington. 

One  of  the  features  of  the  proposition  sub 
mitted  by  General  Sherman  was  a  declaration 
of  amnesty  to  all  persons,  both  civil  and  mili 
tary.  Notice  being  called  to  the  fact  parti 
cularly,  Sherman  said,  "I  mean  just  that;" 
and  gave  as  his  reason  that  it  was  the  only 
way  to  have  perfect  peace.  He  had  previ 
ously  offered  to  furnish  a  vessel  to  take  away 
any  such  persons  as  Mr.  Davis  might  select, 
to  be  freighted  with  whatever  personal  pro 
perty  they  might  want  to  take  with  them,  and 
to  go  wherever  it  pleased. 

General  Johnson  told  Sherman  that  it  was 
worse  than  useless  to  carry  such  a  proposi 
tion  as  the  last  to  him.  Breckinridge  also 
informed  General  Sherman  that  his  proposi 
tion  contemplated  the  adjustment  of  certain 
matters  which  even  Mr.  Davis  was  not  em 
powered  to  control.  The  terms  were  accept 
ed,  however,  with  the  understanding  that 
they  should  be  liberally  construed  on  both 


of  yefferson  Davis.  133 

sides,  and  fulfilled  in  good  faith — General 
Breckinridge  adding  that  certain  parts  of  the 
terms  would  require  to  be  submitted  to  the 
various  State  governments  of  the  Confede 
racy  for  ratification. 

These  terms  of  agreement  between  John 
son  and  Sherman  were  subsequently  disap 
proved  by  the  authorities  at  Washington,  and 
the  armistice  ordered  to  cease  after  a  certain 
time.  Mr.  Davis  waited  in  Charlotte  until 
the  day  and  hour  when  the  armistice  ended ; 
then  mounted  his  horse,  and,  with  some  ca 
valry  of  Duke's  brigade  (formerly  Morgan's), 
again  started  southward,  passing  through 
South  Carolina  to  Washington,  in  Georgia. 
At  an  encampment  on  the  road,  he  thinks, 
the  cavalry  of  his  escort  probably  heard  of  the 
final  surrender  of  General  Johnson,  though 

he  himself  did  not  until  much  later.     Bein^ 
•  o 

in  the   advance,  he  rode  on,  supposing  that 
the  escort  was  coming  after. 

As  with  his  party  he  approached  the  town 
of  Washington,  he  was  informed  that  a  regi 
ment,  supposed  to  belong  to  the  army  of 


134  The  Prison  Life 

General  Thomas,  was  moving  on  the  place 
to  capture  it,  ir  violation,  as  he  thought,  of 
General  Sherman's  terms.  On  this  he  sent 
back  word  to  the  General  commanding  the 
cavalry  escort  to  move  up  and  cover  the  town 
— an  order  which  probably  never  reached  its 
destination — at  least  the  cavalry  never  came ; 
nor  did  he  see  them  again,  nor  any  of  them. 
Thinking  they  were  coming,  however,  and 
not  apprehending  any  molestation  from  the 
Federal  troops,  even  if  occupying  the  same 
town,  he  entered  Washington,  and  remained 
there  over  night — no  troops  of  the  United 
States  appearing.  Here  he  heard  of  his  wife 
and  family,  not  having  seen  them  since  they 
had  left  Richmond,  more  than  a  month  be 
fore  his  own  departure.  They  had  just  left 
the  town  before  his  arrival,  moving  South  in 
company  with  his  private  secretary,  Colonel 
Harrison,  of  whose  fidelity  he  spoke  in 
warm  terms,  and  accompanied  by  a  small 
party  of  paroled  men,  who,  seeing  them 
unprotected,  had  volunteered  to  be  their 
escort  to  Florida,  from  whence  the  family 


of  Jefferson  .Davis.  135 

not  Mr.  Davis  himself,  intended  to  take  ship 
to  Cuba. 

Mr.  Davis  regarded  the  section  of  country 
he  was  now  in  as  covered  by  Sherman's 
armistice,  and  had  no  thought  that  any  expe 
dition  could  or  would  be  sent  for  his  ,owr 
capture,  or  for  any  other  warlike  purposes 
He  believed  the  terms  of  Johnson's  capitula 
tion  still  in  force  over  all  the  country  east  of 
the  Chattahoochie,  which  had  been  embraced 
in  Johnson's  immediate  command;  citing  as 
an  evidence  of  this,  that  while  he  was  in 
Washington,  General  Upton,  of  the  Federal 
service,  with  a  few  members  of  his  staff,  pass 
ed  unattended  over  the  railroad,  a  few  miles 
from  the  place,  en  route  for  Augusta,  to  re 
ceive  the  muster-rolls  of  the  discharged 
troops,  and  take  charge  of  the  immense  mili 
tary  stores  there  that  fell  into  General  Sher 
man's  hands  by  the  surrender.  General  Up 
ton  was  not  interfered  with,  the  country  being 
considered  at  peace,  though  nothing  could 
have  been  easier  than  his  capture,  had  Mr. 
Davis  been  so  inclined. 


136  The  Prison  Life 

At  this  very  time,  however,  a  division  of 
cavalry  had  been  sent  into  this  district,  which 
had  been  declared  at  peace  and  promised  ex 
emption  from  the  dangers  and  burdens  of  any 
further  military  operations  within  its  limits, 
for  the  purpose  of  capturing  himself  and 
party ;  and  this  he  could  not  but  regard  as  a 
breach  of  faith  on  the  part  of  those  who 
directed  or  permitted  it  to  be  done,  though 
he  did  not  wish  to  place  himself  in  the  con 
dition  of  one  who  had  accepted  the  terms  of 
Johnson's  capitulation  or  taken  advantage  of 
the  amnesty  which  Sherman  had  offered. 
But  the  district  in  which  he  then  found 
himself  had  been  promised  exemption  from 
further  incursions,  and  he  did  not  think 
himself  justly  liable  to  capture  while  within 
its  limits — though  he  expected  to  have  to 
take  the  -chances  of  arrest  when  once  across 
the  Chattahoochie. 

Hearing  that  a  skirmish-line,  or  patrol,  had 
been  extended  across  the  country  from  Ma- 
con  to  Atlanta  and  thence  to  Chattanooga, 
he  thought  best  to  go  below  this  line,  hoping 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  137 

to  join  the  forces  of  his  relative,  Lieutenant 
General  Dick  Taylor,  after  crossing  the  Chat 
tahoochie.  He  would  then  cross  the  Missis 
sippi,  joining  Taylor's  forces  to  those  of  Kirby 
Smith — of  whom  he  spoke  with  marked  acer 
bity — and  would  have  continued  the  fight  so 
long  as  he  could  find  any  Confederate  force 
to  strike  with  him. .  This,  not  in  any  hope  of 
final  success,  but  to  secure  for  the  South 
some  better  terms  than  surrender  at  discre 
tion.  "  To  this  complexion,"  said  Mr.  Davis, 
"  had  the  repudiation  of  General  Sherman's 
terms,  and  the  surrenders  of  Lee  and  John 
son,  brought  the  Southern  cause." 

Mr.  Davis  left  Washington  accompanied 
by  Postmaster-General.  Reagan,  three  aides, 
and  an  escort  of  ten  mounted  men  with  one 
pack-mule.  Riding  along,  they  heard  dis 
tressing  reports  of  bands  of  marauders  going 
about  the  country  stealing  horses  and  what 
ever  else  might  tempt  their  cupidity — these 
rumors  finally  maturing  into  information 
which  caused  him  to  change  his  course  and 
follow  on  to  overtake  the  train  containing  his 


138  The  Prison  Life 

wife  and  family,  for  whose  safety  he  began  to 
feel  apprehensions. 

This  object  he  achieved  after  riding  seventy 
miles,  without  halt,  in  a  single  day,  joining 
Mrs.  Davis  just  at  daylight,  and  in  time  to 
prevent  a  party  he  had  passed  on  the  road 
from  stealing  her  two  fine  carriage-horses 
which  formed  a  particular  attraction  for  their 
greed.  "I  have  heard,"  he  added,  "since  my 
imprisonment,  that  it  was  supposed  there  was 
a  large  amount  of  specie  in  the  train.  Such 
was  not  the  fact,  Mrs.  Davis  carrying  with  her 
no  money  that  was  not  personal  property,  and 
but  very  little  of  that." 

Having  joined  his  family,  he  travelled  with 
them  for  several  days,  in  consequence  of  finding 
the  region  infested  with  deserters  and  robbers 
engaged  in  plundering  whatever  was  defence 
less,  his  intention  being  to  quit  his  wife 
whenever  she  had  reached  a  safe  portion  of 
the  country,  and  to  bear  west  across  the  Chat 
tahoochie.  The  very  evening  before  his  arrest 
he  was  to  have  carried  out  this  arrangement 
believing  Mrs.  Davis  to  be  now  safe;  but  was 


of  Jefferson  Davis  139 

prevented  by  a  report  brought  in  through, one 
of  his  aides,  that  a  party  of  guerillas,  or  high 
waymen,  was  coming  that  night  to  seize  the 
horses  and  mules  of  his  wife's  train.  It  was  on 
this  report  he  decided  to  remain  another  night. 

Towards  morning  he  had  just  fallen  into 
the  deep  sleep  of  exhaustion,  when  his  wife's 
faithful  negro  servant,  Robert,  came  to  him 
announcing  that  there  was  firing  up  the  road 
He  started  up,  dressed  himself  and  went  out 
It  was  just  at  grey  dawn,  and  by  the  imperfect 
light  he  saw  a  party  approaching  the  camp. 
They  were  recognised  as  Federal  cavalry  by 
the  way  in  which  they  deployed  to  surround 
the  train,  and  he  stepped  back  into  the  tent, 
to  warn  his  wife  that  the  enemy  were  at  hand. 

Their  tent  was  prominent,  being  isolated 
from  the  other  tents  of  the  train ;  and  as  he 
was  quitting  it  to  find  his  horse,  several  of  the 
cavalry  rode  up,  directing  him  to  halt  and 
surrender.  To  this  he  gave  a  defiant  answer. 
Then  one  whom  he  supposed  to  be  an  officer 
asked,  had  he  any  arms,  to  which  Mr.  Davis 
replied  :  "  If  I  had,  you  would  not  be  alive  to 


14°  The  Prison  Life 

ask  that  question."  His  pistols  had  been  left 
in  the  holsters,  as  it  had  been  his  intention, 
the  evening  before,  to  start  whenever  the 
camp  was  settled ;  but  horse,  saddle,  and  hol 
sters  were  now  in  the  enemy's  possession,  and 
he  was  completely  unarmed. 

Colonel  Pritchard,  commanding  the  Fede 
ral  cavalry,  came  up  soon,  to  whom  Mr.  Davis 
said :  "  I  suppose,  sir,  your  orders  are  accom 
plished  in  arresting  me.  You  can  have  no 
wish  to  interfere  with  women  and  children  ; 
and  I  beg  they  may  be  permitted  to  pursue 
their  journey."  The  Colonel  replied  that  his 
orders  were  to  take  every  one  found  in  my 
company  back  to  Macon,  and  he  would  have 
to  do  so,  though  grieved  to  inconvenience  the 
ladies.  Mr.  Davis  said  his  wife's  party  was 
composed  of  paroled  men,  who  had  commit 
ted  no  act  of  war  since  their  release,  and 
begged  they  might  be  permitted  to  go  to 
their  homes ;  but  the  Colonel,  under  his  or 
ders,  did  not  feel  at  liberty  to  grant  this  re 
quest.  They  were  all  taken  to  Macon,  there 
fore,  reaching  it  in  four  days,  and  from  thence 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  141 

were  carried  by  rail  to  Augusta — Mr.  Davis 
thanking  Major-General  J.  H.  Wilson  for 
having  treated  him  with  all  the  courtesy  pos 
sible  to  the  situation. 

The  party  transferred  to  Augusta  consisted 
of  Reagan,  Alexander  H.  Stevens,  Clement 
C.  Clay,  two  of  his  own  aides  and  private 
secretary, ,  Mrs.  Clay,  his  wife  and  four  chil 
dren,  four  servants  and  three  paroled  men, 
who  had  generously  offered  their  protection  to 
Mrs.  Davis  during  her  journey.  Breckinridge 
had  been  with  the  cavalry  brigade,  which 
had  been  the  escort  of  Mr.  Davis,  and  did 
not  come  up  at  Washington.  He  and  Secre 
tary  Benjamin  had  started  for  Florida,  expect 
ing  to  escape  thence  to  the  West  Indies. 
There  was  no  specie  nor  public  treasure  in 
the  train — nothing  but  his  private  funds,  and 
of  them  very  little.  Some  wagons  had  been 
furnished  by  the  quartermaster  at  Washing 
ton,  Georgia,  for  the  transportation  of  his 
family  and  the  paroled  men  who  formed 
their  escort,  and  that  was  the  only  train. 
Mr.  Davis  had  not  seen  his  family  for  some 


142  The  Prison  Life 

months  before,  and  first  rejoined  them  when 
he  rode  to  their  defence  from  Washington. 

June  2$d. — I  received  the  following  letter 
from  Mrs.  Davis : 

DATED  SAVANNAH,  GA.,  June  i4th,  1865. 

DR.  CRAVEN  : 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — Pursued  by  dreadful  pic 
tures  thrown  before  me  every  day  in  excerpts 
from  northern  correspondents,  and  published 
in  the  daily  journals,  in  which  the  agony 
inseparable  from  defeat  and  imprisonment  is 
represented  to  have  been  heightened  for  my 
husband  by  chains  and  starvation,  I  can  no 
longer  preserve  the  silence  which  I  feel 
should  be  observed  by  me,  in  your  failure  to 
answer  my  letter  of  the  first  inst.  Can  it  be 
that  these  tales  are  even  in  part  true  ?  That 
such  atrocities  could  render  him  frantic  I 
know  is  not  so.  I  have  so  often  tended  him 
through  months  of  nervous  agony,  without 
ever  hearing  a  groan  or  an  expression  of 
impatience,  that  I  know  these  tales  of  child 
ish  ravings  are  not  true — would  to  God  I 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  143 

could  believe  that  all  these  dreadful  rumors 
were  false  as  well ! 

But  there  is  something  about  them  which 
convinces  me  that  they  are  not  altogether 
false.  You  must  have  been  kind  to  him,  else 
he  had  not  told  you  of  his  sufferings.  Will 
you  not,  my  dear  sir,  tell  me  the  worst  ?  Is 
he  ill — is  he  dying  ?  Taken  from  me,  with 
only  ten  minutes'  warning,  I  could  not  see 
any  one  to  whom  I  could  say  that  he  was 
quite  ill ;  indeed,  suffering  from  fever  at  the 
hour  of  our  separation.  He  has  been  much 
exposed  to  a  Southern  sun  in  malarial  dis 
tricts,  and  I  dread  everything  from  an  attack 
of  illness  in  his  depressed  condition,  even 
were  the  humanities  of  life  manifested  to  him. 
With  a  blaze  of  light  pouring  upon  the  dilat 
ed  pupils  of  eyes  always  sensitive  to  it ; 
chains  fettering  his  emaciated  limbs  ;  coarse 
food,  served,  as  the  newspapers  describe  it,  in 
the  most  repulsive  manner,  without  knife, 
fork,  or  spoon,  "  lest  he  should  commit  sui 
cide," — hope  seems  denied  to  me  ;  yet  I  can 
not  reconcile  myself  to  that  result,  which  for 


144  TIte  Prison  Life 

many  years  must  have  been  his  gain.  Will 
you  only  write  me  one  word  to  say  that  he 
may  recover'  ?  Will  you  tell  him  that  we  are 
well — that  our  little  children  pray  for  him,  and 
miss  his  fatherly  care — that  his  example  still 
lives  for  them.  Please  tell  him  not  to  be 
anxious  for  us  ;  that  kind  friends  are  with  us, 
and  that  those  who  love  him  have  adopted 
us,  too.  Do  not  tell  him,  please,  that  we  are 
not  permitted  to  leave  here  ;  for  the  present, 
we  can  do  very  well,  and  then  I  expect,  every 
day,  a  permit  to  leave  this  city  for  one  more 
healthy.  Please  try  to  cheer  him  about  us 
for  we  are  kindly  cared  for  by  the  Southern 
friends  who  love  him  here.  Will  you  not 
take  the  trouble  to  write  me,  only  this  once  ? 
Can  it  be  that  you  are  forbidden  ?  Else,  how 
could  a  Husband  and  "Father,  as  I  hear  you 
are,  refuse  us  such  a  small  favor,  productive 
as  it  would  be  of  such  blessed  comfort  ? 

My  children  shall  pray  for  you,  and  per 
haps  the  prayers  of  "  one  of  these  little  ones  " 
may  avail  much  with  Him  who  said,  "  Surfer 
them  to  come  unto  me ;"  and  that  which  you 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  145 

have  done  for  another  may  be  returned  to 
you  with  usury  in  some  less  happy  and  pros 
perous  hour.  With  the  hope  of  hearing  from 
you  very  soon, 

I  am,  sir, 

Very  respectfully 

And  gratefully  yours, 

VARINA  DAVIS. 


146  The  Prison  Life 


CHAPTER    X. 

Diseases  of  the  Eye. — Guards  removed  from 
the  Prisoner  s  Room. — Mr.  Davis  takes  his 
first  Walk  on  the  Ramparts. —  The  Policy 
of  Conciliation. — Mr.  Davis  on  Improve 
ments  in  Land  and  Naval  Warfare. 

JUNE  24/72. — Called  on  Mr.  Davis,  accompa 
nied  by  Captain  Titlow,  Officer  of  the  Day. 
On  entering  found  the  prisoner,  for  the  first 
time,  alone  in  his  cell,  the  two  guards  having 
been  removed  from  it  in  consequence  of  my 
report  to  Major-General  Miles  that  their  pres 
ence  was  counteracting  every  effort  for  quiet 
ing  the  nerves  of  the  patient.  Mr.  Davis 
remarked  that  the  change  had  done  him 
good,  his  last  night's  sleep  having  been 
undisturbed.  He  complained  of  his  eyes, 
and  a  throbbing  pain  in  the  back  of  his 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  147 

neck,  asking  me  to  give  the  matter  particular 
attention,  as  similar  symptoms,  at  the  same 
season  last  year,  in  Richmond,  had  been  fol 
lowed  by  a  severe  bilious  remittent  fever. 

Mr.  Davis  spoke  of  the  injurious  effects  of 
reflected  light  upon  the  eyes,  thence  diverg 
ing  to  the  phenomena  of  the  mirage,  and 
the  illusions  of  vision  arising  from  an  over 
excited  condition  of  the  optic  nerve,  or 
peculiar  conditions  of  the  atmosphere.  The 
mirage  on  the  deserts  of  Egypt  and  Arabia 
was  chiefly  observable  in  the  afternoons,  when 
the  sands  were  thoroughly  heated,  thus  pro 
ducing  a  different  medium  of  atmosphere 
close  to  the  earth,  and  causing  the  horizontal 
or  vertical  refraction,  <  r  both,  which  produced 
the  appearance  of  this  so  common  pheno 
menon.  Science,  he  remarked,  was  fast 
explaining,  as  the  result  of  natural  laws, 
nearly  all  the  mysteries  of  the  earth  on 
which  ignorance  in  preceding  ages  had 
founded  its  superstitions  and  magicians  built 
up  a  belief  in  their  reputed  power.  The 
injurious  effects  of  the  whitewash  upon  the 


148  The  Prison  Life 

walls  of  his  cell  to  his  eyes,  he  attributed  to 
the  double  refractive  power — doubly  injuri 
ous — of  all  salts  and  crystallized  minerals  not 
retaining  the  form  of  the  original  cube,  the 
regular  octohedron,  etc. ;  and  of  all  these  sub 
stances,  the  carbonate  of  lime  possessed  the 
double  refractive  power  most  eminently,  and 
was,  therefore,  most  injurious  to  the  sight. 

Mr.  Davis  said  that  reading  continually  the 
same  type  in  his  Bible  and  Prayer-Book  had 
become  a  severe  tax  upon  his  sight,  of  which 
he  had  often  complained  to  me  before ;  but 
what  was  he  to  do  ?  Utter  inaction  for  a  mind 
so  busy  as  his  had  been,  was  impossible:  he 
must  either  furnish  it  with  external  employ 
ment,  or  allow  it  to  prey  upon  itself.  Nature 
had  furnished  all  varieties  of  pabulum  to  the 
vision,  resting  it  on  one  color  when  weary 
with  another,  and  changing  the  forms  on 
which  it  had  been  employed  with  every  object 
of  nature.  Even  with  the  most  healthy,  sight 
was  a  delicate  organ,  and  with  him — the  sight 
of  one  eye  lost  and  that  of  the  other  seriously 
impaired — peculiarly  so.  The  pupil  of  the 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  149 

eye  was  constructed  to  expand  or  contiact  in 
harmony  with  each  change  of  light,  or  color, 
or  different  form  of  object ;  and  to  employ  the 
vision  continually  on  one  size  of  type,  he  be 
lieved  must  be  injurious — at  least  on  no  other 
theory  could  he  account  for  the  fast-growing 
alteration  of  his  sight. 

On  this  subject  we  had  frequently  conversed 
before,  my  views  agreeing  with  those  of  Mr. 
Davis,  who,  from  the  necessities  of  his  case, 
appeared  to  have  pretty  thoroughly  studied  the 
art  of  the  oculist.  Indeed  it  was  a  remark 
which  every  day  impressed  on  me  more  forci 
bly,  that  the  State  prisoner  had  studied  no  sub 
ject  superficially,  and  that  his  knowledge  in  all 
the  useful  arts  and  sciences  was  varied,  exten 
sive,  and  very  thorough  in  each  branch. 

Representations  in  regard  to  the  need  Mr. 
Davis  stood  in  of  different  pabulum,  both  for 
his  eyes  and  mind,  had  been  previously  made 
by  me  to  Major-General  Miles,  and  had  been 
confirmed,  I  rather  believe,  by  Colonel  Pineo, 
Medical  Inspector  of  the  Department,  who 
had  visited  Mr.  Davis  in  my  company  on  the 


150  The  Prison  Life 

1 2th  of  this  month,  having  a  long  and  inter 
esting  conversation  with  the  prisoner — a  fact 
which  should  have  been  mentioned  at  an 
earlier  date  ;  but  as  the  conversation  was  one 
in  which  I  took  little  part,  the  brief  memo 
randum  in  my  diary  escaped  notice  until  re 
vived  by  the  fuller  notes  of  this  day's  inter 
view.  It  was  upon  the  day  of  Colonel  Pineo's 
visit,  also,  that  Mr.  Davis  mentioned  having 
heard  that  my  little  daughter,  moved  by  Sym 
pathy,  had  volunteered  as  his  housekeeper 
and  superintended  the  sending  of  his  meals. 
Beautiful  as  woman's  character  always  was,  in 
its  purity,  grace,  delicacy,  and  sympathetic 
action,  it  was  rarely,  save  in  man's  hours  of 
deepest  affliction,  that  he  realized  how  much 
his  nature  stood  in  need  of  the  support  of  his 
gentle  counterpart.  Then,  picking  up  a  vol 
ume  of  prayer  from  the  table,  he  said  :  "  Doc 
tor,  my  wife  gave  me  this.  Another,  which 
she  placed  in  my  valise,  I  have  since  received. 
Pray  present  this,  with  my  love  and  grateful 
regards,  to  your  little  Anna,  and  say,  though 
I  may  never  have  an  opportunity  to  thank 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  1 5  i 

her  myself,  my  children  will  one  day  rise  up 
1  to  call  her  blessed.'  " 

And  now  to  have  done  with  this  digression 
and  return  to  my  interview  of  June  24th. 

While  the  State  prisoner  was  yet  speaking 
of  the  troubles  of  his  sight,  Major-General 
Miles  entered,  with  the  pleasant  announce 
ment  that  Mr.  Davis  was  to  be  allowed 
to  walk  one  hour  each  day  upon  the  ramparts, 
and  to  have  miscellaneous  reading  hereafter — 
books,  newspapers,  and  such  magazines  as 
might  be  approved,  after  perusal  at  headquar 
ters — an  improvement  of  condition,  it  must  be 
needless  to  say,  very  pleasing  to  the  prisoner. 

That  afternoon,  Mr.  Davis  took  his  first 
walk  in  the  open  air  since  entering  Fortress 
Monroe  ;  Major-General  Miles  supporting  him 
on  one  side,  the  Officer  of  the  Day  on  the 
other,  and  followed  by  four  armed  guards. 
Of  this  party  I  was  not  a  member,  much  to 
my  regret,  for  the  remarks  of  the  prisoner  on 
regaining  so  much  of  his  liberty,  and  looking 
upon  scenes  formerly  so  familiar,  under  hap 
pier  circumstances,  would  beyond  doubt  have 


152  The  Prison  Life 

been  of  interest.  I  only  noticed  that  Mr 
Davis  was  arrayed  in  the  same  garb  he  had 
worn  when  entering  his  cell — indeed  General 
Miles  had  possession  of  all  his  other  ward 
robe  ;  and  that  while  his  carriage  was  proud 
and  erect  as  ever,  not  losing  a  hair's  breadth 
of  his  height  from,  any  stoop,  his  step  had 
lost  its  elasticity,  his  gait  was  feeble  in  the  ex 
treme,  and  he  had  frequently  to  press  his 
chest,  panting  in  the  pauses  of  exertion.  The 
cortege  promenaded  along  the  ramparts  of  the 
South  front,  Mr.  Davis  often  stopping  and 
pointing  out  objects  of  interest,  as  if  giving 
reminiscences  of  the  past  and  making  inqui 
ries  of  the  present.  He  was  so  weak,  how 
ever,  that  the  hour  allowed  proved  nearly 
twice  too  much  for  him,  and  he  had  to  be  led 
back  with  only  half  his  offered  liberty  enjoyed. 
June  25///. — Visited  prisoner  with  Captain 
Evans,  3d  Pennsylvania  Artillery,  Officer  of 
the  Day.  Mr.  Davis  much  better,  and  with 
spirits  greatly  improved.  The  application  to 
the  back  of  his  neck  had  immediately  re 
lieved  the  pain,  and  his  sight  was  less  waver- 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  153 

ing.  He  no  longer  saw  the  cloud  of  black 
and  amber  motes  rising  and  falling  before  his 
sight.  The  nervous  and  painful  twitching  of 
the  eyelids  had  also  in  great  measure  ceased. 
Of  all  diseases,  he  most  feared  photophobia ; 
having  seen  many  cases  of  it,  and  heard  it  was 
the  keenest  agony  of  which  the  human  nerves 
are  susceptible.  Injured  as  his  sight  was,  he 
knew  such  a  disease  must  result  in  total  blind 
ness.  "  Not  that  I  expect  many  pleasant 
things  to  look  out  upon,  Doctor,  but  that  I 
need  my  sight  for  my  defence,  which  must 
also  be  the  defence  of  the  cause  I  represented, 
and  which  my  sufferings  have  been  aimed  to 
degrade." 

Asked  him  how  he  had  enjoyed  his  walk 
on  the  previous  afternoon.  He  said  the  sense 
of  breathing  air  not  drawn  through  iron  bars 
was  a  glorious  blessing,  only  to  be  appreciated 
by  prisoners — one  of  the  thousand  common 
blessings  which  must  be  lost  before  we  prize 
them.  The  varieties  of  view  and  animation 
of  the  scene  had  stimulated  and  reinvigorated 
his  eyes ;  but  his  feebleness  had  been  exces- 

7* 


154  The  Prison  Life 

sive — partly  arising,  he  thought,  from  a  rush 
of  novel  emotions,  partly  from  the  old  recol 
lections  that  came  crowding  back  to  him ; 

o 

and  partly  because,  looking  towards  the  land 
of  his  people  from  the  Southern  front,  it  seem 
ed  to  his  mind  a  vast  charnel-house,  with  the 
black  plumes  of  political  death  nodding  be 
tween  it  and  the  sun. 

"And  yet  this  should  not  be,"  continued 
Mr.  Davis,  "  if  your  authorities  at  Washing 
ton  be  wise.  The  attempt  of  certain  States 
to  separate  from  the  old  confederation,  in 
which  their  rights  under  the  fundamental  law 
had  been  violated,  having  proved  abortive, 
and  they  being  coerced  back  under  the  Gene 
ral  Government  by  military  force,  their  rights 
under  the  Constitution  at  once  return,  and 
revive  with  their  submission,  unless  that  in 
strument  shall  be  deliberately  and  openly  re 
pudiated.  Such  was  the  absolute  spirit  of 
General  Grant's  negotiation  upon  which 
General  Lee  surrendered ;  and  such  both  the 
spirit  and  letter  of  General  Sherman's  propo 
sals  to  the  General  he  was  contending  against' 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  155 

(General  Johnson's  name  not  mentioned,  "  It 
was  also  embodied  in  all  the  declarations  of 
your  Government  and  late  President  in  all 
their  public  acts ;  and  I  think  my  people 
would  have  fought  more  desperately,  and  con 
tinued  the  war  much  longer,  though  hope 
lessly,  had  it  not  been  for  this  expectation. 

"  But  even  apart  from  this — apart  from  all 
pledges  of  faith  or  obligations  of  constitu 
tional  law,"  Mr.  Davis  went  on,  "  and  looking 
on  the  matter  only  in  the  light  of  future  ex 
pediency,  let  us  see  how  the  case  stands.  In 
the  better  days  of  the  Roman  empire,  when 
its  possessions  increased,  and  conquered  coun 
tries  came  in  a  few  years  to  be  integral,  and 
even  zealous  members  of  the  imperial  system, 
it  was  the  policy  of  conciliation,  following  that 
of  military  conquest,  which  achieved  the  de 
sired  results.  Certain  laws  and  restrictions 
of  the  imperial  government  were  imposed — 
so  much  annual  tribute,  so  many  legions  to 
our  military  levies,  and  obedience  to  all  such 
laws  of  the  Central  Government  as  may  be 
issued  for  your  control.  But  within  these 


156  The  Prison  Life 

lines,  and  with  these  points  conceded,  the 
empire  strove  in  all  minor  and  domestic  mat 
ters  to  conform,  in  so  far  as  might  be  possible, 
to  the  former  habits,  customs,  and  laws  of  the 
people  absorbed,  and  the  independent  govern 
ments  superseded.  Even  their  peculiarities 
of  morals,  manners,  and  religious  views  were 
studied  and  respected,  when  not  conflicting 
with  the  necessities  of  the  empire  ;  their  lead 
ing  men  were  justly  treated,  and  no  efforts 
were  spared  to  make  the  new  order  of  things 
sit  lightly  at  first,  and  even  pleasantly  in  a 
few  years,  on  the  necks  of  the  subjugated  pro 
vinces.  Generosity  is  the  true  policy,  both 
of  nations  and  individuals.  *  There  is  that 
maketh  himself  rich,  yet  hath  nothing ;  there 
is  that  maketh  himself  poor,  yet  hath  great 
riches.'  While  my  people  are  held  as  con 
quered  subjects,  they  must  be  to  you  a  con 
tinued  source  of  expense  and  danger — a  coun 
try  penned  together  with  bayonets.  Let  the 
past  be  expunged,  if  you  please ;  we  have 
nothing  to  blush  for  in  it,  and  nothing  to  re 
gret  but  failure.  The  necessities  of  the  North- 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  157 

ern  treasury  and  public  debt,"  Mr.  Davis 
thought,  "\\ould,  before  long,  compel  us  to  do 
:ustice  to  this  section." 

Mr.  Davis  then  spoke  of  the  immense  im 
provements  in  the  art  and  practice  of  war 
which  the  recent  struggle  had  developed ;  this 
in  connection  with  the  progress  of  work  on 
the  Rip  Raps,  some  iron-clads  he  had  seen  in 
the  roadstead,  and  the  fifteen-inch  Rodman 
guns  which  now  stand  en  barbette  on  each 
bastion  of  the  fort. 

England's  naval  supremacy  he  considered 
lost  by  the  invention  of  iron-clads,  these  con 
verting  the  conditions  of  maritime  warfare 
from  a  question  of  dexterity  and  personnel 
into  one  of  machinery,  and  in  machinery  the 
Americans  could  have  no  superiors,  while  in 
all  other  qualities  they  were  at  least  the  equals 
of  the  British.  The  science  of  naval  gunnery 
had  also  been  revolutionized,  the  new  princi 
ple  being  to  concentrate  into  a  single  crush 
ing  shot  the  former  scattered  forces  of  a  broad 
side.  The  problem  of  the  iron-clad  was  to 
attain  the  maximum  of  offensive  power  while 


158  The  Prison  Life 

exposing  the  least  possible  and  most  strongly 
armored  objective  points  to  the  projectiles  of 
the  enemy  ;  and  in  such  plans  of  our  iron-clads 
as  he  had  lately  seen,  these  desiderata  seemed 
to  have  been  very  nearly  attained.  For  cross 
ing  the  ocean,  however,  and  for  cruising  on 
peaceful  stations,  our  vessels  lay  too  low  in 
the  water,  either  for  safety  from  storms,  or  the 
comfort  and  health  of  the  crews  and  officers. 
If  our  present  vessels  had  in  them  vast  wells, 
which,  when  empty,  would  cause  the  hulls  to 
float  eight  or  ten  feet  above  the  water,  and 
which,  on  being  filled  when  going  into  action, 
would  reduce  them  to  their  present  level,  he 
thought  no  grander  instruments  of  belligerency 
could  be  imagined.  Wooden  bottoms,  with  ar 
mored  sides  and  armored  turrets,  he  could  not 
but  think  would  prove  the  best.  The  enormous 
weight  superimposed,  coupled  with  the  rollings 
of  the  sea,  must  soon  chafe  and  wear  away  the 
rivets  and  plates  of  an  iron  bottom,  no  matter 
how  carefully  secured;  while  wooden  hulls  sat 
more  easily  on  the  water,  and  both  avoided 
chafing  and  obtained  greater  speed  by  their 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  159 

capacity  of  yielding  a  little.  Even  the  sea 
in  its  laws,  concluded  Mr.  Davis  with  a  smile, 
teaches  the  policy  of  conciliation — of  conces 
sion ;  vessels  making  headway  as  their  lines 
conform  to  the  resistance  of  the  ocean,  and 
have  some  power  of  yielding  to  the  pressure 
of  the  billows.  To  attain  the  greatest  speed, 
we  should  take  for  model  the  swiftest  fish, 
and  conform  to  that  as  much  as  circumstances 
would  permit ;  and  in  this  connection  he  re 
ferred  approvingly  to  the  cigar-shaped  vessels 
of  Mr.  Winans,  of  Baltimore.  * 

In  regard  to  the  improvements  in  ordnance, 
he  spoke  at  great  'length,  displaying  not 
merely  a  very  observant  knowledge  of  all  the 
changes  in  modern  artillery  and  projectiles, 
but  also  of  the  science  of  metallurgy  as  ap 
plied  to  the  production  of  ordnance.  He  dis 
cussed  the  atomic  theory,  or  relationship  of 
particles,  and  the  effects  on  iron  fibre  of  differ 
ent  temperatures  and  treatments,  as  by  ham 
mering,  rolling,  and  the  various  methods  of 
cooling  ;  detailing  with  a  minuteness  I  could 
not  hope  to  follow,  numerous  experiments  in 


160  The  Prison  Life 

the  construction  and  effect  of  ordnance  while 
he  was  Secretary  of  War.  The  Swedish  and 
Russian  iron  had  been  reputed  best,  but  he 
thought  experiment  would  prove  that  the  iron 
of  the  Shenandoah  Valley  and  of  Eastern 
Tennessee,  when  properly  treated,  would  be 
at  least  as  good,  if  not  superior,  for  this  cli 
mate.  In  the  Tredegar  Iron- Works,  an  enor 
mous  amount  of  work  had  been  done,  and 
many  improvements  in  puddling  and  casting 
introduced ;  but  the  continued  and  ever-in 
creasing  necessities  of  the  war,  as  the  block 
ade  became  more  effective,  made  rapidity  the 
.one  thing  needful,  and  much  of  the  work, 
more  especially  of  late,  had  been  rough  and 
defective. 

Rifled  guns  he  had  been  at  first  inclined  to 
favor,  and  for  certain  classes  of  service  at  long 
range,  they  must  always  remain  the  best.  For 
tearing  and  destroying  forts  of  masonry,  the 
results  at  Pulaski  and  Sumter  had  demon 
strated  their  value ;  but  as  earthworks  would 
hereafter  be  employed  wherever  possible,  their 
superiority  in  this  respect  was  of  less  import- 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  161 

ance.  For  naval  engagements,  at  long  range, 
they  would  also  be  better ;  but  with  iron-clad 
ships,  all  future  engagements  must  be  within 
a  few  hundred  yards,  and  then  the  slow,  crush 
ing  shot  of  the  heavy  smooth  bore  was  the 
thing  needed.  For  chasing  a  blockade-run 
ner  or  crippling  a  flying  ship,  the  rifled  gun ; 
but  for  crushing  in  the  sides  or  turret  of  an 
armored  vessel,  the  heavy  thirteen  or  fifteen- 
inch  shot  from  a  smooth  bore,  propelled  by 
slow-burning  powder,  would  be  most  effica 
cious.  Quick-burning  powder  strained  the 
gun  too  much  by  its  shock,  hurled  out  the 
projectile  before  the  powder  behind  it  had 
been  half  developed,  and  also  wasted  not  less 
than  a  third  of  the  charge  before  the  process 
of  combustion  had  time  to  take  place.  He 
spoke  of  Captain  Dahlgren  and  his  experi 
ments  in  ordnance  while  he  (Mr.  Davis)  had 
been  Secretary  of  War,  remarking  that,  rightly 
or  wrongly,  the  Captain  had  been  accused  of 
appropriating  as  his  own,  with  very  trivial  al 
terations,  if  any,  discoveries  which  were  sub 
mitted  to  him  for  examination  and  report  as 


1 62  The  Prison  Life 

chief  of  ordnance  in  the  navy  yard  Of  the 
Rodman  he  spoke  approvingly,  regarding  its 
chilling  process  as  the  true  one  ;  but  for  perfec 
tion  of  elaborate  workmanship  and  detail  no 
guns  he  had  ever  seen  were  superior  to  some 
of  those  received  through  the  blockade  from 
England.  It  was  a  mistake,  however,  to  be  too 
minute  in  war.  War  was  a  rough  business, 
and  rough  tools  would  carry  it  through  if  there 
were  only  plenty  of  them,  and  in  the  hands  of 
anything  like  a  sufficiency  of  proper  men. 

From  this  time,  the  prisoner  received  books 
and  newspapers  freely,  chiefly  reading  of  news 
papers,  the  New  York  Herald,  and  of  books, 
histories — Mr.  Bancroft  appearing  his  favorite 
American  author.  I  recommended  him  to  be 
very  moderate  at  first  in  his  open-air  exercise, 
gauging  the  amount  of  exercise  to  his  strength ; 
and  from  this  time  forward  Mr.  Davis  went 
out  every  day  for  an  hour's  exercise,  the 
weather  and  his  health  permitting. 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  163 


CHAPTER  XI. 

Mr.  Lincoln  s  Assassination. — Ex-President 
Pierce. —  Torture  of  being  Constantly  Watch 
ed. — Mr.  Davis  on  the  Members  of  his  Cabi 
net  and  the  Opponents  of  his  Administra 
tion. —  Touching  Tribute  to  the  Memory  of 
"Stonewall"  Jackson. 

SUNDAY,  July  nth. — Was  sent  for  by  Mr. 
Davis,  and  called  in  company  with  Captain  R. 
O.  Bickley,  Officer  of  the  Day. 

Found  prisoner  very  desponding,  the  failure 
of  his  sight  troubling  him,  and  his  nights 
almost  without  sleep.  His  present  treatment 
was  killing  him  by  inches,  and  he  wished 
shorter  work  could  be  made  of  his  torment. 
He  had  hoped  long  since  for  a  trial,  which 
should  be  public,  and  therefore  with  some 
semblance  of  fairness ;  but  hope  deferred  was 
making  his  heart  sick.  The  odious,  malig- 


164  The  Prison  Life 

nant  and  absurd  insinuation  that  he  was  con 
nected  in  some  manner  with  the  great  crime 
and  folly  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  assassination,  was 
his  chief  personal  motive  for  so  earnestly  de 
siring  an  early  opportunity  of  vindication. 
But  apart  from  this,  as  he  was  evidently  made 
the  representative  in  whose  person  the  action 
of  the  seceding  States  was  to  be  argued  and 
decided,  he  yet  more  strongly  desired  for  this 
reason  to  be  heard  in  behalf  of  the  defeated, 
but  to  him  still  sacred  cause.  The  defeat  he 
accepted,  as  a  man  has  to  accept  all  necessi 
ties  of  accomplished  fact;  but  to  vindicate  the 
theory  and  justice  of  his  cause,  showing  by  the 
authority  of  the  Constitution  and  the  Fathers 
of  the  Country,  that  his  people  had  only  as 
serted  a  right — had  committed  no  crime  ;  this 
was  the  last  remaining  labor  which  life  could 
impose  on  him  as  a  public  duty.  Mr.  Davis 
then  spoke  of  Ex-President  Franklin  Pierce  in 
terms  of  warm  admiration,  as  the  public  man 
who  had  studied  constitutional  law,  and  the 
relation  of  the  States  to  highest  profit,  remark 
ing,  that  if  he  were  given  any  choice  of  coun- 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  165 

sel,  Mr.  Pierce  would  be  one  of  those  whose 
advice  he  would  think  most  reliable.  He  also 
spoke  of  Mr.  Charles  Eames,  of  Washington, 
as  a  walking  encyclopaedia  of  constitutional 
law,  very  accurate  and  ready  in  his  reference 
to  precedents ;  adding  that  he  had  seen  a  re 
port  in  the  Herald  that  Messrs.  Reverdy  John 
son,  of  Maryland,  and  Charles  O'Conor,  of 
New  York,  had  professed  their  readiness  to 
assume  his  defence,  when  approached  by  some 
of  his  friends  for  that  purpose,  for  which  he 
felt  grateful,  both  personally  and  for  his  people. 
His  own  fate  was  of  no  importance  in  this 
matter,  save  to  the  Government,  on  which  his 
tory  would  devolve  the  responsibility  for  his 
treatment.  Martyrdom,  while  representing 
the  deliberate  action  of  his  people,  would  be 
immortality;  but  for  the  sake  of  justice,  not 
merely  to  his  own  people,  but  to  the  whole 
American  people,  whose  future  liberties  were 
now  at  stake  in  his  person,  a  fair  and  public 
trial  was  now  the  necessity  of  the  situation. 

"  My  people,"  he  added,  "  attempted  what 
your  people  denounced  as  a  revolution.     My 


1 66  The  Prison  Life 

people  failed ;  but  your  people  have  suffered 
a  revolution  which  must  prove  disastrous  to 
their  liberties  unless  promptly  remedied  by 
legal  decision,  in  their  efforts  to  resist  the 
revolution  which  they  charged  my  people 
with  contemplating.  State  sovereignty,  the 
corner-stone  of  the  Constitution,  has  become 

a  name.     There  is  no  longer  power,  or  will, 

• 

in  any  State,  or  number  of  States,  that  would 
dare  refuse  compliance  wifh  any  tinkle  of 
Mr.  Seward's  bell." 

Mr.  Davis  complained  this  sleeplessness 
was  aggravated  by  the  lamp  kept  burning  in 
his  room  all  night,  so  that  he  could  be  seen 
at  all  moments  by  the  guard  in  the  outer 
cell.  If  he  happened  to  doze  one  feverish 
moment,  the  noise  of  relieving  guard  in  the 
next  room  aroused  him,  and  the  lamp  poured 
its  full  glare  into  his  aching  and  throbbing 
eyes.  There  must  be  a  change  in  this,  or  he 
would  go  crazy,  or  blind,  or  both. 

"  Doctor,"  he  said,  "  had  you  ever  the  con 
sciousness  of  being  watched  ?  Of  having 
an  eye  fixed  on  you  every  moment  intently 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  167 

scrutinizing   your  most  minute    actions,  and 
the  variations  of  your  countenance  and  pos 
ture  ?      The   consciousness    that   the    Omni 
scient  Eye  rests  upon  us,  in  every  situation, 
is  the  most  consoling  and  beautiful  belief  of 
religion.     But  to  have  a  human  eye  riveted 
on  you  in  every  moment  of  waking  or  sleep 
ing,     sitting,    walking,     or    lying     down,    is 
a    refinement    of  torture    on    anything    the 
Camanches     or     Spanish     Inquisition     ever 
dreamed.     They,  in  their  ignorance  of  cruel 
art,  only  struck  at  the  body ;  and  the  nerves 
have  a  very  limited  capacity  of  pain.     This 
is    a    maddening,    incessant    torture    of   the 
mind,    increasing  with    every   moment    it    is 
endured,  and  shaking  the  reason  by  its  inces 
sant  recurrence  of  miserable  pain.     Letting 
a  single  drop  of  water  fall  on  the  head  every 
sixty  seconds  does   not  hurt  at  first,  but  its 
victim  dies  of  raving  agony,  it  is  alleged,  if 
the  infliction  be  continued.     The  torture  of 
being   incessantly  watched   is,    to  the  mind, 
what  the  water-dropping  is  to  the  body,  but 
more  afflictive,  as  the  mind  is  more  suscepti- 


1 68  The  Prison  Life 

ble  of  pain.  The  Eye  of  Omniscience  looks 
upon  us  with  tenderness  and  compassion ; 
even  if  conscious  of  guilt,  we  have  the  com 
fort  of  knowing  that  Eye  sees  also  our  repent 
ance.  But  the  human  eye  forever  fixed  upon 
you  is  the  eye  of  a  spy,  or  enemy,  gloating 
in  the  pain  and  humiliation  which  itself  cre 
ates.  I  have  lived  too  long  in  the  woods  to 
be  frightened  by  an  owl,  and  have  seen  death 
too  often  to  dread  any  form  of  pain.  But  I 
confess,  Doctor,  this  torture  of  being  watched 
begins  to  prey  on  my  reason.  The  lamp 
burning  in  my  room  all  night  would  seem  a 
torment  devised  by  some  one  who  had  inti 
mate  knowledge  of  my  habits,  my  custom 
having  been  through  life  never  to  sleep 
except  in  total  darkness." 

This  conversation,  so  far  as  related  to  its 
medical  aspect,  I  deemed  it  my  duty  to  com 
municate  that  afternoon  to  Major-General 
Miles,  who  could  not  remove  the  lamp  alto 
gether,  but  directed  that  it  should  be  screened 
at  night,  so  that  no  direct  and  glaring  beams 
should  be  thrown  into  the  prisoner's  eyes. 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  169 

Soon  after  this  interview,  I  received  a  third 
letter  from  Mrs.  Davis,  as  follows : 

SAVANNAH,  GA.,  July  a,  1865. 

DR.  J.  J.    CRAVEN  : 

MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  have  written  to  you  three 
times,  and  no  answer  has  been  returned ;  but 
I  am  not  capable  of  the  "  still  yet  brave 
despair,"  which  I  know  is  required  in  my 
hopeless  position.  Thanks  to  God,  that  He 
has  raised  you  up  a  "present  help"  in  my 
husband's  time  of  trouble,  are  daily  ren 
dered. 

Am  I  intrusive  in  offering  gratitude  and 
earnest  prayers  for  your  welfare  and  that  of 
your  household,  and  for  your  manly  disregard 
of  everything  but  the  suffering  man  before 
you?  I  know  you  have  been  kind,  for  the 
only  concordance  between  any  of  the  number 
less  harrowing  statements  which  daily  agonize 
me,  is  that  you  are  always  represented  as  kind 
to  him — as  ministering  to  his  necessity.  The 
last  account  tells  me  that  your  wife  and  little 
daughter  are  also  kind  enough  to  attend  to 
his  wants.  With  my  gratitude  and  joy  that 


1 70  The  Prison  Life 

even  in  such  a  dungeon,  separated  from  all 
his  earthly  ties  he  is  not  alone,  comes  the  sad 
memory  that  I  can  do  nothing  but  write  to 
say  how  I  love  them  for  their  goodness ;  how 
I  long  to  see  their  faces  before  my  eyes  ar- 
closed  in  death !  I  am  not  alone  in  offerin 
to  them  loving  thanks — our  whole  people  join 
me  in  offering  acknowledgments  to  them  and 
to  you.  Many  little  children,  besides  my  own 
poor  little  ones,  have  asked  me  if  I  had  a  like 
ness  of  your  family,  that  they  might  form  an 
idea  of  those  whose  kindness  has  become  to 
them  household  words.  Still  no  word  of  com 
forting  response  comes  to  me  from  you.  I 
will  not  annoy  you  by  importunities  ;  but 
pray  that  we  may  meet  at  some  future  day, 
when  such  painful  circumstances  as  now  sur 
round  me  may  have  been  swept  away  by  God's 
christianizing  grace. 

When  "  martial  faith  and  courtesy "  may 
again  dictate  the  action  of  those  who  now 
hold  my  suffering  husband  "  a  prisoner  of 
war,"  but  treat  him  like  a  felon,  a  heart  full 
of  gratitude,  overflowing  in  earnest,  constant 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  i  / 1 

prayers  for  you,  and  for  your  dear  wife,  and 
little  Annie,  is  all  I  have  to  offer;  and 
these  are  ever  present  to 

Yours  most  gratefully, 

VARINA  DAVIS. 

July  \$th. — Called  on  Mr.  Davis,  accom 
panied  by  Captain  Grill,  3d  Pennsylvania 
Artillery,  Officer  of  the  Day.  Found  him 
extremely  weak,  and  growing  more  alarmed 
about  his  sight,  which  was  failing  rapidly. 
The  phenomenon  had  occurred  to  him  of 
seeing  all  objects  double,  due  chiefly  to  his 
nervous  debility  and  the  over-taxation  of  con 
stant  reading.  Prescribed  stimulants  inter 
nally — weak  brandy  and  water  with  his  meals 
to  aid  digestion — and  a  stimulating  wash. 

Some  remarks  he  had  seen  in  one  of  the 
New  York  papers  led  Mr.  Davis  to  speak  of 
the  difficulties  which  had  surrounded  his 
administration. 

His  Cabinet  had  been  selected  during  the 
formation  of  the  Provisional  Government  at 
Montgomery,  when  there  were  but  seven 


i  72  The  Prison  Life 

States  in  the  Confederacy  from  which  to 
select  or  accept  Secretaries,  and  when  all 
things  were  in  dire  confusion — even  those  of 
farthest  sight  in  public  affairs  with  but  little 
prevision  of  what  lay  before  them.  Georgia, 
as  the  largest  State  represented  in  the  Pro 
visional  Congress,  claimed  the  portfolio  of 
State  and  recommended  Mr.  Toombs — a  man 
of  great  natural  force  and  capacity,  but  a 
destroyer,  not  a  builder  up ;  a  man  of  restless 
nature,  a  born  Jacobin,  though  with  honest 
intentions.  Alabama,  as  the  second  State, 
claimed  the  portfolio  of  War,  and  nominated 
Pope  Walker  for  the  position — a  gentleman 
of  excellent  intentions,  but  wholly  without 
the  requisite  experience  or  capacities  for  so 
vast  a  trust.  South  Carolina  placed  Mr. 
Memminger  in  the  Treasury,  and  while  he 
respected  the  man,  the  utter  failure  of  Con 
federate  finance  was  the  failure  of  the  cause. 
Had  Mr.  Memminger  acted  promptly  on  the 
proposition  of  depositing  cotton  in  Europe 
and  holding  it  there  for  two  years  as  a  basis 
for  their  currency,  their  circulating  medium 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  173 

might  have  maintained  itself  at  par  to  the 
closing  day  of  the  struggle ;  and  that  in 
itself  would  have  insured  victory.  Louisiana 
sent  Benjamin,  the  ablest  and  most  faithful 
member  of  his  advisory  council ;  a  man 
who  realized  that  industry  is  the  mistress  of 
success,  and  who  had  no  personal  aspirations, 
no  wishes  that  were  not  subordinate  to  the 
prosperity  of  the  cause.  In  the  early  part  of 
the  war,  Benjamin  furnished  a  parallel  to  Mr. 
Seward,  both  believing  and  avowing  that  the 
impending  crisis  would  not  last  longer  than 
sixty  or  ninety  days,  though  Benjamin  relaxed 
no  labor  or  preparation  on  that  account. 
Texas  had  the  Postal  Department  in  the  per 
son  of  Mr.  Reagan,  who  was  a  plain,  strong 
man,  of  good  common  sense  and  a  good 
heart,  faithful  to  the  cause  with  zealous  fidel 
ity,  and  faithful  to  the  last,  though  endowed 
with  no  peculiar  administrative  abilities,  and 
one  of  those  who  had  not  labored  to  precipi 
tate  secession,  though  accepting  it  heartily 
as  a  political  necessity  when  it  came.  The 
Navy  Department  went  to  Florida,  and  was 


t  74  The  Prison  Life 

filled  by  Mr.  Mallory,  who  had  large  experi 
ence  in  the  Naval  Committee  of  the  United 
States  Senate.  It  was  complained  that  there 
had  been  remissness  in  this  department,  no 
Confederate  war  vessel  having  been  com 
menced  until  eight  or  nine  months  after  the 
act  of  secession.  In  these  complaints  there 
was  doubtless  some  truth ;  but  after  an  event 
happened,  prophesying  was  cheap.  No  one 
at  that  day  could  have  foreseen  tlxe  extent  or 
prolongation  of  the  struggle,  and  the  belief 
was  common,  if  not  natural,  that  the  necessi 
ties  of  Europe  would  compel  foreign  nations 
to  raise  the  blockade,  and  finally  bring  the 
naval  resources  of  England  and  France  to 
the  aid  of  his  people. 

Being  interested  by  what  Mr.  Davis  said  of 
the  failure  of  the  Confederate  currency  as  the 
failure  of  the  cause,  and  of  some  scheme  by 
which  it  might  have  been  prevented,  I  ex 
pressed  my  curiosity  and  ventured  to  request 
some  explanation,  as  there  appeared  to  rne  no 
manner  in  which  Confederate  paper  could 
have  been  sustained  at  par. 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  175 

Mr.  Davis  replied  that  one  rule  of  his  life 
was,  never  to  express  regret  for  the  inevitable : 
to  let  the  dead  bury  its  dead  in  regard  to  all 
political  hopes  trTat  were  not  realized.  Fire 
is  not  quenched  with  tow,  nor  the  past  to  be 
remedied  by  lamentations.  It  would,  how 
ever,  have  been  possible,  in  his  judgment,  to 
have  kept  the  currency  of  his  people  good 
for  gold,  or  very  nearly  so,  during  the  entire 
struggle ;  and  had  this  been  done,  the  con 
trast,  if  nothing  else,  would  have  reduced 
United  States  securities  to  zero,  and  so  ter 
minated  the  contest.  The  plan  urged  upon 
Mr.  Memminger  was  as  follows — a  plan  Mr. 
Davis  privately  approved,  but  had  not  time  to 
study  and  take  the  responsibility  of  directing, 
until  too  late  : — 

At  the  time  of  secession  there  were  not  less 
than  three  million  bales  of  cotton  in  the 
South — plantation  bales,  of  400  pounds  weight 
each.  These  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
recommended  to  buy  from  the  planters,  who 
were  then  willing,  and  even  eager,  to  sell  to 
the  government,  at  ten  cents  per  pound  of 


i  76  The  Prison  Life 

Confederate  currency.  These  three  million 
bales  were  to  be  rushed  off  to  Europe  before 
the  blockade  was  of  any  efficiency,  and  there 
held  for  one  or  two  years,  until  the  price 
reached  not  less  than  70  or  80  cents  per 
pound — and  we  all  know  it  reached  much 
higher  during  the  war.  This  would  have 
given  a  cash  basis  in  Europe  of  not  less  than 
a  thousand  million  dollars  in  gold,  and  all 
securities  drawn  against  this  balance  in 
bank  would  maintain  par  value.  Such  a  sum 
would  have  more  than  sufficed  all  the  needs 
of  the  Confederacy  during  the  war ;  would 
have  sufficed,  with  economic  management,  for 
a  war  of  twice  the  actual  duration ;  and  this 
evidence  of  Southern  prosperity  and  stability 
could  not  but  have  acted  powerfully  on  the 
minds,  the  securities  and  the  avarice  of  the 
New  England  rulers  of  the  North.  He  was  far 
from  reproaching  Mr.  Memminger.  The 
situation  was  new.  No  one  could  have  fore 
seen  the  course  of  events.  When  too  late 
the  wisdom  of  the  proposed  measure  was 
realized,  but  the  inevitable  "  too  late "  was 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  i  7  7 

interposed.  The  blockade  had  become  too 
stringent,  for  one  reason,  and  the  planters  had 
lost  their  pristine  confidence  in  Confederate 
currency.  When,  we  might  have  put  silver  in 
the  purse,  we  did  not  put  it  there.  When  we 
had  only  silver  on  the  tongue,  our  promises 
were  forced  to  become  excessive. 

I  asked  how  Mr.  Memminger  had  obtained 
prominence  in  so  aristocratic  a  State  as  South 
Carolina,  the  report  being  that  he  was  a  found 
ling  born  with  little  claim  to  either  wealth  or 
name.  Mr.  Davis  said  he  knew  nothing  of 
the  matter,  and  immediately  turned  away  the 
conversation,  appearing  displeased. 

When  Mr.  Benjamin  was  made  Secretary  of 
War,  Mr.  Davis  continued — Mr.  Walker  hav 
ing  proved  a  failure — Congress  was  pleased  to 
blame  him  for  the  successes  of  General  Burn- 
side  at  Roanoke  Island,  and  so  forth ;  events 
which  no  human  activity  or  foresight,  with  the 
forces  at  his  command,  could  have  averted. 
Congress  in  some  respects  was  slow  to  provide 
against  reverses,  but  never  lacking  in  prompt 
ness  to  find  a  scapegoat.  From  the  first,  there 


170  The  Prison  Life 

was  a  strong  party  in  the  South — or  rather  in 
the  Southern  Congress  and  political  life- 
arrayed  against  his  administration.  They 
never  deemed  it  wise  to  attack  him  personally 
or  directly,  for  his  people  were  devotedly  and 
nobly  faithful  to  the  representative  of  their 
selection  ;  but  the  plan  was  to  assail  any  man 
or  measure  in  whom  or  which  Mr.  Davis  was 
supposed — often  erroneously — to  take  special 
interest.  He  himself  was  much  to  blame  for 
this,  perhaps — his  fidelity  to  friendship  and 
the  natural  combativeness  of  his  nature, 
prompting  him  to  assume  as  personal  to  him 
self,  any  'assaults  directed  against  men  or 
measures  for  whose  appointment  or  origination 
he  was  in  any  degree  responsible.  This  was 
a  fault  of  his  temperament,  but  each  man  must 
accept  himself  as  he  stands,  and  that  man  does 
well  who  makes  out  of  himself  the  best  pos 
sible. 

Toombs,  even  when  in  the  Cabinet,  had 
been  impracticable  and  restless.  Out  of  it  he 
became  an  active  malcontent,  and  was  power 
fully  supported  in  every  perverse  and  perni- 


. 

of  Jefferson  Davis.  i  79 

cious  suggestion  by  Governor  Brown,  ol 
Georgia.  Vice-President  Stephens  had  lent 
the  government  no  assistance,  continually 
holding  himself  aloof  from  Richmond — per 
haps  on  agcount  of  ill  health ;  but  certainly 
his  health  must  have  been  very  wretched  in 
deed,  if  poorer  than  that  of  Mr.  Davis,  during 
many  of  his  most  trying  and  laborious  months. 
Be  the  cause  what  it  might,  however,  the  ab 
sence,  if  not  apathy,  of  Mr.  Stephens,  had  been 
an  element  of  weakness,  and  led  him  to  be  re 
garded  by  the  malcontents  as  a  friend  and 
pillar  of  their  cause.  In  South  Carolina,  there 
was  the  Rhett  faction ;  never  at  home  save 
when  in  the  attitude  of  contradiction  ;  men 
whose  lives  were  expended  in  the  negative, 
and  who  often  recalled  to  his  mind  the  con 
tradictory  gentleman  described  by  Sydney 
Smith,  who,  when  he  had  no  one  else  to  quar 
rel  with,  threw  up  his  window  at  night  for  the 
purpose  of  contradicting  the  watchman  who 
was  shouting,  "  Two  o'clock — all  well."  The 
only  open  assailant  he  had  in  Congress  was 
Senator  Foote,  of  his  own  State — a  man  of  no 


i  So  The  Prison  Life 

account  or  credit ;  an  inveterate  place-hunter 
and  mere  politician,  who  appeared  laboring 
under  a  constitutional  inability  either  to  see 
anything  correctly,  or  to  report  correctly  what 
he  had  seen. 

Of  Stonewall  Jackson,  Mr.  Davis  spoke 
with  the  utmost  tenderness,  and  some  touch 
of  reverential  feeling,  bearing  witness  to  his 
earnest  and  pathetic  piety,  his  singleness  of 
aim,  his  immense  energy  as  an  executive 
officer,  and  the  loyalty  of  his  nature,  making 
obedience  the  first  of  all  duties.  "  He  rose 
every  morning  at  three,"  said  Mr.  Davis;  "per 
formed  his  devotions  for  half  an  hour,  and 
then  went  booming  along  at  the  head  of  his 
command, which  came  to  be  called  'Jackson's 
foot  cavalry,'  from  the  velocity  of  their  move 
ments.  He  had  the  faculty,  or  rather  gift,  of 
exciting  and  holding  the  love  and  confidence 
of  his  men  to  an  unbounded  degree,  even 
though  the  character  of  his  campaigning  im 
posed  on  them  more  hardships  than  on  any 
other  troops  in  the  service.  Good  soldiers 
care  not  for  their  individual  sacrifices  when 


°f  Jefferson  Davis.  181 

adequate  results  can  be  shown ;  and  these 
General  Jackson  never  lacked.  Hard  fight 
ing,  hard  marching,  hard  fare,  the  strictest 
discipline — all  these  men  will  bear,  if  visibly 
approaching  the  goal  of  their  hopes.  They 
want  to  get  done  with  the  war,  back  to  their 
homes  and  families ;  and  their  instinct  soon 
teaches  them  which  commander  is  pursuing 
the  right  means  to  accomplish  these  results. 
Jackson  was  a  singularly  ungainly  man  on 
horseback,  and  had  many  peculiarities  of  tem 
per,  amounting  to  violent  idiosyncrasies ;  but 
everything  in  his  nature,  though  here  and 
there  uncouth,  was  noble.  Even  in  the  heat 
of  action,  and  when  most  exposed,  he  might 
be  seen  throwing  up  his  hands  in  prayer.  For 
glory  he  lived  long  enough,"  continued  Mr. 
Davis  with  much  emotion  ;  "  and  if  this  result 
had  to  come,  it  was  the  Divine  mercy  that 
removed  him.  He  fell  like  the  eagle,  his  own 
feather  on  the  shaft  that  was  dripping  with 
his  life-blood.  In  his  death  the  Confederacy 
lost  an  eye  and  arm,  our  only  consolation 
being  that  the  final  summons  could  have 


l%2  The  Prison  Life 

reached  no  soldier  more  prepared  Jo  accept 
it  joyfully.  Jackson  was  not  of  a  san 
guine  turn,  always  privately  anticipating  the 
worst,  that  the  better  might  be  more 
welcome." 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  183 


CHAPTER  XII. 

Mr.  Davis  seriously  III. — Restrictions  on  Cor- 
respondence  with  his  Wife. — Clement  C.  Clay. 
— A  Rampart  Interview. — Religious  Phase 
of  Mr.  Davis  s  Character. 

JULY  2&th. — Called  on  Mr.  Davis,  Captain 
Korte,  3d  Pennsylvania  Artillery,  being  Offi 
cer  of  the  Day,  and,  of  course,  my  companion. 
Was  requested  to  call  by  Major-General  Miles, 
who  had  received  report  that  prisoner  was 
seriously  ill. 

Found  Mr.  Davis  in  a  very  critical  state ; 
his  nervous  debility  extreme ;  his  mind  more 
despondent  than  ever  heretofore ;  his  appetite 
gone ;  complexion  livid,  and  pulse  denoting 
deep  prostration  of  all  the  physical  energies. 
Was  much  alarmed,  and  realized  with  painful 
anxiety  the  responsibilities  of  my  position.  If 
he  were  to  die  in  prison,  and  without  trial, 


184  77/6'  Prison  Life 

subject  to  such  severities  as  had  been  inflict 
ed  on  his  attenuated  frame,  the  world  would 
form  unjust  conclusions,  but  conclusions  with 
enough  color  to  pass  them  into  history.  It 
seemed  to  me,  let  me  frankly  confess,  due  to 
the  honor  of  America,  and  the  future  glory 
of  our  struggle  for  national  existence,  that  this 
result  should  not  happen. 

Mr.  Davis  asked  me  could  nothing  be  done 
to  better  his  condition,  or  secure  him  the  jus 
tice  of  a  trial  before  death.  The  effort  of  his 
people  to  establish  a  country  had  failed,  and 
they  had  no  country  now  but  America.  It 
was  for  the  honor  of  America,  not  less  than 
for  his  own,  and  for  justice  to  his  cause,  that 
he  pleaded. 

Assured  Mr.  Davis  that  no  effort  of  care  or 
such  skill  as  I  possessed  should  be  wanting 
for  his  benefit.  Then  commenced  conversa 
tion  on  various  topics,  seeking  to  divert  his 
mind  from  the  afflictions  preying  on  it. 

Talking  of  the  Confederate  flag  and  the 
various  flags  under  which  the  regiments  of 
each  State  fought,  I  mentioned  having  once 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  185 

seen  a  curious  practical  realization  of  the  flag 
of  South  Carolina — the  palmetto-tree  and 
rattlesnake. 

The  day  after  the  success  of  Admiral  Du 
Pont  at  Port  Royal,  and  the  landing  of  Sher 
man's  expedition  on  Hilton  Head,  I  had 
ridden  out  in  company  with  General  Horatio 
G.  Wright  to  an  abandoned  cavalry  camp  of 
the  expelled  troops.  There,  twisted  around 
the  trunk  of  a  palmetto-tree,  and  held  in  his 
place  round  it  by  ligatures  of  reeds,  was  a 
dead  rattlesnake,  the  largest  I  had  ever  seen, 
some  eight  feet  long,  and  probably  nearly  a 
hundred  pounds  weight.  It  had  undoubtedly 
been  placed  there  in  sport  by  some  of  the  cav 
alry  as  an  emblem  of  the  flag  of  their  State. 

"  It  was  a  good  omen  for  you,"  said  Mr. 
Davis,  with  a  faint  smile,  and  then  commenced 
talking  of  the  snakes  of  the  Southern  coast. 
He  mentioned  as  curious  that  the  deer, 
usually  the  most  timid  of  animals,  or  so  popu 
larly  regarded,  was  the  deadliest  enemy  of  the 
rattlesnake.  Wherever  and  whenever  finding 
one  in  the  woods  near  the  coast,  or  on  the 


1 86  The  Prison  Life 

grassy  sand-heaps  which  the  snake  so  Ioved4 
the  deer  commenced  assailing  it  acrimoni 
ously  with  its  sharp  and  powerful  though 
dainty  fore-hoofs.  These  it  would  job  or  dig 
into  the  rattlesnake's  head,  half  stunning  it 
the  first  blow.  Then  the  deer  would  graze  a 
few  moments — with  a  wary  eye  on  the  snake, 
however,  repeating  its  stabs  with  its  sharp 
hoofs  until  its  enemy  expired.  The  negroes 
accounted  for  the  immunity  of  the  deer  in 
these  encounters  by  the  fact  that  its  delicate 
forelegs,  being  nearly  all  skin  and  bone,  were 
the  only  parts  exposed  within  reach  of  the 
rattlesnake,  and  had  too  little  blood  or  flesh 
in  them  to  convey  the  virus.  It  was  not  true 
that  this  snake  could  project  himself  the  full 
length  of  his  coil.  He  could  only  coil  up 
half  his  length  and  throw  that  forward.  They 
are  slow  and  of  little  danger  to  men  or  dogs, 
unless  suddenly  trodden  upon.  No  instance 
of  their  attacking  a  man,  unless  attacked,  was 
on  record  along  the  Southern  coast.  They 
like  the  cool  sea-breezes,  and  feed  on  rabbits 
and  squirrels,  which  they  have  great  dexterity 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  187 

in  catching.  Mr.  Davis  had  never  heard  of 
any  specific  cure  for  their  bite  save  when  the 
part  could  be  instantly  amputated  before  the 
poison  spread.  Powerful  doses  of  whiskey 
were  a  remedy  in  some  cases — perhaps  on 
the  principle  of  the  more  powerful  poison 
expelling  the  weaker.  He  had  known  a  case, 
when  serving  on  the  frontier,  in  which  this 
remedy  had  proved  worse  than  the  disease. 
A  very  worthy  sergeant  of  the  ist  Dragoons 
had  been  formerly  of  intemperate  habits,  but 
had  reformed  and  been  perfectly  abstemious 
for  several  years.  Some  kind  of  a  snake  bit 
him — probably  one  whose  bite  was  not  mortal, 
though  painful — and  heavy  doses  of  whiskey 
were  at  once  prescribed.  This  re-aroused  the 
slumbering  devil,  and  in  less  than  six  months 
after  the  sergeant,  degraded  to  the  ranks,  died 
of  mania  apotu  in  the  guard-house.  Drunken 
ness  is  the  great  vice  of  soldiers,  and  worked 
much  misery  with  his  people.  The  social 
glass,  carried  to  excess,  becomes  a  pair  of 
spectacles  through  which  men  gaze  into  the 
bottomless  pit.  Mr.  Davis  then  referred 


1 88  The  Prison  Life 

jocosely  to  the  old  form  of  commissary 
requisitions  for  whiskey  when  he  was  in  the 
army :  "  So  many  barrels  of  whiskey  to  cure 
snake-bites."  This  was  because  whiskey  was 
forbidden  in  army  stores,  unless  to  be  used 
for  medicinal  purposes.  He  believed  ten 
thousand  soldiers  had  "seen  snakes,"  as  the 
phrase  ran,  through  this  agency,  for  the  one 
who  had  been  cured  of  a  snake-bite. 

The  mocassin-snake,  which  is  also  very 
poisonous — though  not  so  deadly  on  the 
southern  coast-line  as  in  the  interior — seldom 
grows  to  be  over  three  feet  in  length,  and  is 
thicker  and  slower  of  motion  than  the  rattle 
snake.  The  chicken  or  house-snake  often 
grows  to  great  size,  fully  as  large  as  the  rattle 
snake,  but  is  not  dangerously  poisonous, 
though  its  fangs  create  an  unpleasant  pustule, 
death  occasionally  resulting  when  they  hap 
pen  to  pierce  a  vein.  They  are  swift,  feed  on 
birds  and  poultry  of  all  kinds,  and  have  great 
er  power  of  convolution  and  contortion  than 
any  other  snakes,  this  being  necessary  to  en 
able  them  to  climb  trees  in  pursuit  of  their 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  189 

prey  with  the  requisite  quickness.  Children 
often  attacked  these  snakes  when  finding  them 
curled  up  in  the  crevices  of  barns  or  abandon 
ed  houses,  rarely  failing  to  kill  them.  The 
mocassin-snake  is  rather  more  omnivorou. 
than  the  others,  feeding  upon  frogs,  toads, 
birds,  beetles,  rabbits,  or  whatever  it  can 
catch. 

Mr.  Davis  said  when  he  had  last  been  aut 
on  the  ramparts  he  had  met  Mr.  C.  C.  Clay, 
similarly  walking  under  guard.  Clay  was 
looking  wretchedly,  and  seeing  him  made  Mr. 
Davis  realize  more  acutely  his  own  humiliating 
position.  Men  at  sea  in  a  ship  never  realize 
how  forlorn  and  frail  the  vessel  is  they  are  on 
board,  until  their  counterpart  in  some  closely 
passing  vessel  is  brought  under  notice.  Ab 
sorbed  in  exercise  and  the  emotions  of  the 
scene,  he  had  previously  failed  to  realize  his  sit 
uation,  with  an  officer  at  his  side  as  custodian, 
and  four  bayonets  pacing  behind  him  to  secure 
that  he  should  make  no  effort  to  escape.  The 
moment  Mr.  Clay  passed,  his  own  situation 
stood  revealed;  and  nothing  but  his  strong  con- 


190  The  Prison  Life 

viction  that  to  remain  in  his  cell  would  be  equi 
valent  to  suicide,  could  induce  him  to  parade 
again  in  the  same  manner.  As  he  passed  Mr. 
Clay,  they  exchanged  a  few  words  in  French, 
nothing  more  than  the  compliments  of  the 
day  and  an  inquiry  for  each  other's  health ; 
but  it  seemed  this  had  alarmed  the  officer,  who 
did  not  understand  the  language,  Mr.  Clay  not 
being  permitted  to  pass  him  again,  but  being 
marched  off  to  another  part  of  the  ramparts. 
Clay  was  naturally  delicate,  of  an  atrabilious 
type,  and  his  appearance  denoted  that  he  must 
be  suffering  severely. 

Replied  that  I  had  been  attending  Mr.  Clay, 
and  saw  nothing  in  his  state  to  occasion  alarm. 
He  had  a  tendency  to  asthma,  but  that  was  a 
long-lived  disease.  Mr.  Davis  inquired  how 
Clay  was  fed.  Replied  that  at.  first  he  had 
received  soldiers'  rations,  but  latterly,  his  con 
dition  demanding  it,  had  been  fed  from  the 
hospital.  Mr.  Davis  expressed  much  sympa 
thy  for  his  fellow-sufferer,  begging  me  to  do 
whatever  I  professionally  could  for  his  relief, 
and  to  hold  up  his  hands.  Let  me  here  re- 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  191 

mark  that,  despite  a  certain  exterior  cynicism 
of  manner,  no  patient  has  ever  crossed  my 
path,  who,  suffering  so  much  himself,  appeared 
to  feel  so  warmly  and  tenderly  for  others. 
Sickness,  as  a  general  rule,  is  sadly  selfish  ;  its 
own  pains  and  infirmities  occupying  too  much 
of  its  thoughts.  With  Mr.  Davis,  however, 
the  rule  did  not  work,  or  rather  he  was  an  ex 
ception  calling  attention  to  its  general  truth. 

Prisoner  complained  bitterly  of  the  restric 
tions  imposed  by  General  Miles  on  his  corre 
spondence  with  his  wife ;  certain  subjects, 
and  those  perhaps  of  most  interest,  being  for 
bidden  to  both.  The  convicts  in  State  pri 
sons  were  allowed  this  liberty  unimpeded,  or 
only  subject  to  the  supervision  of  the  Chaplain, 
whose  scrutiny  had  a  religious  and  kindly 
character — that  of  a  Father  Confessor.  His 
letters,  on  the  contrary,  had  to  be  sent  open 
to  General  Miles,  and  from  him,  he  under 
stood,  similarly  open  to  the  Attorney-General. 
What  unbosoming  of  confidence — mutual 
griefs,  mutual  hopes,  the  interchange  of  ten- 
derest  sympathies — was  possible,  or  would  be 


IQ-  The  Prison  Life 

delicate  under  such  a  system !  He  pictured 
idle  young  staff-officers  here,  or  yet  more  piti 
ful  clerks  in  the  Law  Department  at  Washing 
ton,  grinning  over  any  confessions  of  pain,  or 
terms  of  endearment,  he  might  be  tempted  to 
use ;  and  this  thought  embittered  the  pleasure 
such  correspondence  might  otherwise  have 
conferred.  The  relationship  of  husband  and 
wife  was  the  inner  vestibule  of  the  temple — 
the  holy  of  holies — in  poor  human  life ;  and 
who  could  expose  its  secrets,  or  lay  his  heart 
bare  on  his  sleeve,  for  such  daws  to  peck  at  ? 
Even  criminals  condemned  to  death  for  hein 
ous  crimes,  were  allowed  not  only  free  corre 
spondence  with  their  wives,  but  interviews  at 
which  no  jailor  stood  within  earshot.  What 
possible  public  danger  could  there  be  from 
allowing  such  letters  to  pass  without  scrutiny  ? 
Time  will  set  all  these  petty  tyrannies  in 
their  true  light.  He  that  first  pleadeth  his 
own  cause  seems  justified ;  but  his  neighbor 
cometh  and  searcheth  him.  If  the  privilege 
were  ever  abused — if  anything  he  wrote  to 
his  wife  were  published  to  the  detriment  of 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  193 

the  government,  or  tending  to  disturb  the 
peace,  what  easier  than  to  say,  "  This  privi 
lege  has  been  abused,  and  must  cease  ?" 

July  2\st. — Visited  prisoner  with  Captain 
Evans,  3d  Pennsylvania  Artillery,  Officer  of 
the  Day.  Mr.  Davis  better,  but  still  in  bed ; 
the  Bible  and  Prayer-Book  his  usual  compa 
nions.  Complained  that  his  irritation  of  sight 
made  reading  painful ;  but  there  was  conso 
lation  for  greater  sacrifice  in  what  he  read. 

There  was  no  affectation  of  devoutness  or 
asceticism  in  my  patient ;  but  every  opportu 
nity  I  had  of  seeing  him,  convinced  me  more 
deeply  of  his  sincere  religious  convictions. 
He  was  fond  of  referring  to  passages  of  Scrip 
ture,  comparing  text  with  text;  dwelling  on 
the  divine  beauty  of  the  imagery,  and  the 
wonderful  adaptation  of  the  whole  to  every 
conceivable  phase  and  stage  of  human  life. 
Nothing  that  any  man's  individual  experience, 
however  strange,  could  bring  home  to  him, 
but  had  been  previously  foretold  and  describ 
ed,  with  its  proper  lesson  or  promise  of  hope, 
in  the  sacred  volume.  It  was  the  only  abso- 


194  The  Prison  Life 

lute  wisdom,  reaching  all  varieties  of  exist 
ence,  because  comprehending  the  whole ;  and, 
besides  its  inspired  universal  knowledge,  all 
the  learning  of  humanity  was  but  foolishness. 
The  Psalms  were  his  favorite  portion  of  the 
Word,  and  had  always  been.  Evidence  of 
their  divine  origin  was  inherent  in  their  text. 
Only  an  intelligence  that  held  the  life-threads 
of  the  entire  human  family  could  have  thus 
pealed  forth  in  a  single  cry  every  wish,  joy, 
fear,  exultation,  hope,  passion,  and  sorrow  of 
the  human  heart.  There  were  moments,  while 
speaking  on  religious  subjects,  in  which  Mr. 
Davis  impressed  me  more  than  any  professor 
of  Christianity  I  had  ever  heard.  There  was 
a  vital  earnestness  in  his  discourse ;  a  clear, 
almost  passionate  grasp  in  his  faith  ;  and  the 
thought  would  frequently  recur,  that  a  belief 
capable  of  consoling  such  sorrows  as  his, 
possessed  and  thereby  evidenced,  a  reality — a 
substance — which  no  sophistry  of  the  infidel 
could  discredit. 

To  this  phase  of  the  prisoner's  character  I 
have  heretofore  rather  avoided  calling  atten- 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  195 

tion  for  several  reasons,  prominent  of  which, 
though  an  unworthy  one,  was  this  :  My  know 
ledge  that  many,  if  not  a  majority  of  my  read 
ers,  would  approach  the  character  of  Mr. 
Davis  with  a  preconception  of  dislike  and  dis 
trust,  and  a  consequent  fear  that  an  earlier 
forcing  on  their  attention  of  this  phase  of  his 
character,  before  their  opinion  had  been  .modi 
fied  by  such  glimpses  as  are  herein  given, 
might  only  challenge  a  base  and  false  impu 
tation  of  hypocrisy  against  one  than  whom, 
in  my  judgment,  no  more  devout  exemplar  of 
Christian  faith,  and  its  value  as  a  consolation, 
now  lives,  whatever  may  have  been  his  poli 
tical  crimes  or  errors. 

And  here,  dropping  the  note-book  a  moment, 
let  me  say  a  few  words  in  my  own  character — 
a  reflection  continually  brought  to  my  notice 
by  each  day's  further  acquaintance  with  Mr. 
Davis : 

Is  it  not  true  that  the  chief  mistakes  and 
prejudices  of  public  opinion  come  from  our  not 
understanding — not  seeking  to  understand — 
the  true  motives  and  characters  of  the  men  to 


196  The  Prison  Life 

whom  we  are  opposed  ?  Blind  and  hot-headed 
partisanship,  speaking  in  'the  haste  of  the  press 
and  the  heat  of  the  rostrum,  accepts  without 
evidence  whatever  epithet  of  infamy  can  be 
applied  to  the  object  of  its  dislike ;  no  storie? 
of  guilt  or  folly  that  can  degrade  or  rendei 
hateful  the  foeman  we  stand  arrayed  against, 
can  be  too  monstrous  to  find  believers,  at  least 
while  the  struggle  lasts.  But  in  a  few  years, 
as  we  recede  from  the  convulsed  and  frenzied 
period  of  the  strife,  we  grow  to  be  ashamed  of 
the  malignant  delusions  which  have  so  grossly 
cheated  our  senses ;  and  before  history  takes 
up  the  pen  to  record  her  final  judgment,  the 
world  will  be  willing  to  concede  that  the  man 
was  not  utterly  bad — had,  in  fact,  great  re 
deeming  virtues — who  was  our  most  promi 
nent  foe ;  and  that  no  movement  so  vast,  and 
eliciting  such  intense  devotion  on  the  part  of 
its  partisans  as  the  late  Southern  rebellion, 
could  have  grown  up  into  its  gigantic  propor 
tions  without  containing  many  elements  of 
truth  and  good,  which  it  may  profit  future 
ages  to  study  attentively,  though  the  means 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  197 

taken  for  the  assertion  of  its  principles  were 
false,  criminal,  and  only  fraught  with  disaster. 
To  anticipate  a  little  what  must  be  the  in 
evitable  course  of  events,  to  give  the  public 
such  opportunity  as  was  given  the  writer  of 
judging  Jefferson  Davis  from  a  clearer  stand 
point,  and  to  save  the  present  generation  of 
the  North  from  the  fatal  error  of  continuing 
to  regard  and  treat  as  a  common  criminal  the 
chief  actor  opposed  to  us  in  a  struggle  the 
most  gigantic  the  world  has  ever  seen,  and 
with  which  history  will  ring  for  centuries  to 
come — if  these  objects  can  be  attained,  the 
author  will  not  have  toiled  in  vain.  All  the 
crimes  that  an  evil  ingenuity  has  yet  been  able 
to  impute  to  this  man,  are  as  new-fallen  snow 
when  brought  in  contrast  with  the  fabrications 
of  the  English  and  European  press  in  regard 
to  murderous  and  incestuous  proclivities  of 
the  first  Napoleon  during  the  great  wars  in 
which  that  Captain  involved  the  elder  conti 
nent.  But  such  is  not  now  the  judgment  of 
him,  either  in  England  or  in  the  world's  his 
tory — nor  will  history  consent  to  regard  Mr 


The  Prison  Life 

Davis  in  the  odious,  monstrous,  or  contempt 
ible  light  which  has  been,  for  the  last  five 
years,  the  only  one  in  which  the  necessities 
and  passions  of  our  recent  struggle  would  per 
mit  him  to  be  presented  to  our  gaze. 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  199 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

Southern  Migration  to  Mexico. — Mr.  Cal 
houris  Memory  vindicated  from  one  Charge. 
— Tribute  to  Albert  Sidney  Johnston. — Fail 
ure  of  Southern  Iron-dads  and  Loss  of  the 
Mississippi. 

JULY  24^. — Called  on  Mr.  Davis,  accompa 
nied  by  Captain  Korte,  3d  Pennsylvania 
Artillery,  Officer  of  the  Day.  Found  pri 
soner  still  very  feeble,  but  said  he  could  not 
resist  the  temptation  to  crawl  out  in  such 
beautiful  weather,  even  at  the  cost  of  the 
degrading  guards  who  dogged  his  steps. 
Captain  Korte  absent  during  greater  part  of 
this  interview,  relieving  guard  in  the  case 
mates  of  Clay  and  other  prisoners.  Some 
officers  of  the  day  often  left  me  alone  with 
prisoner  for  this  purpose ;  others  remained 


2 oo  The  Prison  Life 

dose  to  us  as  we  conversed;  but  as  Mr.  Davis 
always  spoke  in  a  subdued  manner,  and  my 
replies  were  given  in  the  usual  confidential 
tone  of  a  doctor  consulting  a  patient,  the 
presence  or  absence  of  the  Officer  of  the 
Day  made  little  difference. 

Mr.  Davis  spoke  of  the  folly  and  something 
worse  of  those  Southern  leaders  who  had  fled 
to  Mexico.  It  was  an  act  of  cowardice — an 
evasion  of  duty  only  to  be  excelled  by  suicide. 
They  had  been  instrumental  in  bringing  the 
evils  of  military  subjugation  on  the  people, 
and  should  remain  to  share  their  burdens. 
The  great  masses  of  the  people  were  rooted 
to  the  soil,  and  could  not,  and  should  not,  fly. 
The  first  duty  of  the  men  who  had  been  in 
command  during  the  struggle  was,  to  remain 
faithful  fellow-sufferers  with  the  rank  and  file. 
By  doing  so  they  could  yet  exercise  a  moral 
and  intellectual,  if  not  political,  weight  against 
the  schemers  of  rapine  and  oppression  now 
swarming  over  the  Southern  country ;  while 
by  deserting,  they  abandon  helpless  ignorance 
to  the  sway  of  powerful  craft,  and  confessed 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  201 

judgment  to  whatever  charges  might  be 
brought  against  them.  The  scheme  of  a 
political  settlement  in  Mexico  was  preposter 
ous  in  practice,  though  tempting  to  wounded 
pride.  Settlements  and  colonies  were  gov 
erned,  or  governed  themselves,  by  laws  of 
material  interest,  considerations  of  profit  and 
loss ;  and  no  settlers  could  be  imagined  less 
fitted  for  the  requirements  of  a  new  colony 
than  a  body  of  embittered  politicians,  still 
sore  and  smarting  from  a  conflict  in  which 
they  had  incurred  defeat.  Patience,  indomi 
table  industry  and  self-denial  were  the  necessi 
ties  of  every  new  settlement;  and  these — 
even  were  the  colonists  of  a  more  suitable 
class — could  scarcely  be  continued  in  Mexico, 
where  languor,  indolence  and  ease,  are  con 
stituent  portions  of  the  climate. 

Remarked  to  Mr.  Davis  that  I  had  always 
regarded  the  filibustering  expeditions  of 
Lopez  against  Cuba,  and  Walker  in  Nica 
ragua,  as  Southern  projects  for  the  acquire 
ment  of  more  territory  and  larger  representa 
tion  in  Congress,  to  balance  the  increasing 

9* 


2O2  The  Prison  Life 

free  States  of  the  North  and  West.  If  his 
opinions  against  the  feasibility  of  Southern 
men  colonizing  Mexico  had  been  general  with 
his  people,  how  came  the  Lopez,  and  more 
especially  the  Walker  expeditions,  to  find 
favor  in  his  section,  Walker  proposing  an 
American  settlement  so  much  nearer  the 
equator?  The  desire  for  Cuba  could  be 
understood ;  its  enormous  slave  population, 
wealth,  and  command  of  the  Gulf,  forming 
sufficient  attractions. 

Mr.  Davis  replied  there  had  been  a  general 
desire  in  the  South  for  Cuba,  but  none  of  any 
consequence  for  Central  America.  Neither 
expedition,  however,  had  been  supported  by 
any  organized  party  of  his  people.  The 
Walker  foray  in  Nicaragua  had  its  main 
origin  in  a  quarrel  between  two  new  New 
York  commercial  houses — those  of  Governor 
Morgan  and  Cornelius  Vanderbilt,  as  he 
understood — for  the  profits  of  the  Transit 
Company  across  the  Isthmus.  The  expedi 
tion  against  Cuba  was  favored  by  Genera] 
Quitman,  and  had  so  much  of  direct  Southern 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  203 

sanction  as  might  be  drawn  from  the  General's 
representative  position — which  was  deservedly 
of  the  highest — but  no  more.  It  was  fostered 
on  the  statements  and  promises  of  Cuban 
planters  anxious  for  annexation,  and  promising 
a  liberal  cooperation  of  men  and  means  the 
moment  a  landing  was  effected.  These  pro 
mises  went  off  in  smoke,  as  do  all  the 
promises  of  a  tropical  and  luxurious  people 
for  active  exertion ;  and  so  the  matter  ended. 

In  regard  to  his  remarks  about  settlements 
in  Mexico,  it  was  not  his  intention — the 
reverse,  in  fact — to  be  understood  as  sug 
gesting  that  his  people  could  not,  or  will  not 
colonize  and  reclaim  the  greater  part  or  the 
whole  of  that  country.  His  thought  merely 
was,  that  a  settlement  of  self-exiled  politicians 
and  soldiers,  acting  under  the  impulse  of 
anger,  and  with  no  fixed  purposes  or  habits 
of  industry,  and  but  little  capital  in  money  or 
materials,  formed  a  poor  basis  for  any  coloni 
zation  project  of  permanent  prosperity.  His 
people  needed  more  territory  and  would  con 
tinue  to  need  it,  their  line  of  expansion 


2O-|  The  Prison  Life 

running  towards  Mexico ;  but  this  would  have 
to  come  by  natural  processes  of  growth, 
perhaps  assisted,  when  time  was  ripe,  by 
some  such  political  and  military  movements 
as  added  Texas  to  the  country.  Timely 
blossom  gives  timely  fruit,  and  we  can  no 
more  quicken  the  healthy  growth  of  a  nation 
by  artificial  aid  than  the  growth  of  a  child. 
If  restraints  be  imposed  on  natural  growth, 
violence  may  be  useful  to  cast  off  such 
restraints,  but  beyond  this  can  only  serve  to 
retard  expansion. 

Same  afternoon,  joined  Mr.  Davis,  who  was 
seated  with  Major-General  Miles  on  the  south 
front  of  the  ramparts,  the  prisoner  seeming  to 
prefer  this  aspect  of  the  compass. 

General  Miles  remarked  that  the  fortifica 
tion  known  as  the  Rip  Raps  had  already  occu 
pied  much  time,  and  must  have  cost  the  gov 
ernment  vast  sums  of  money. 

Mr.  Davis  replied,  giving  full  statistics  on 
the  subject  up  to  the  period  he  had  ceased  to 
be  Secretary  of  War,  adding,  that  many  years 
ago  it  had  approached  completion,  but  had 


6/  Jefferson  Davis.  205 

slowly  settled  down  until  the  second  tier  of 
embrasures  reached  the  sea-level,  owing  to  a 
spreading  of  the  artificial  rock-island  on  which 
it  has  been  built.  As  it  was  so  nearly  finished, 
and  might  be  useful  in  case  of  a  foreign  war. 
he  supposed  government  would  now  complete 
its  armament  and  maintain  it  as  a  permanent 
fort ;  but  if  the  matter  were  to  do  over  again, 
a  couple  of  iron-clads  would  serve  all  its  pur 
poses  better,  at  less  than  a  tenth  of  its  expense. 

General  Miles  observed,  interrogatively,  that 
it  was  reported  John  C.  Calhoun  had  made 
much  money  by  speculations,  or  favoring  the 
speculations  of  his  friends,  connected  with  this 
work. 

In  a  moment  Mr.  Davis  started  to  his  feet, 
betraying  much  indignation  by  his  excited 
manner  and  flushed  cheek.  It  was  a  trans 
figuration  of  friendly  emotion,  the  feeble  .and 
wasted  invalid  and  prisoner  suddenly  forget 
ting  his  bonds,  forgetting  his  debility,  and 
ablaze  with  eloquent  anger  against  this  injus 
tice  to  the  memory  of  one  whom  he  loved  and 
reverenced.  Mr.  Calhoun,  he  said,  lived  a 


206  The  Prison  Life 

whole  atmosphere  above  any  sordid  or  dis 
honest  thought — was  of  a  nature  to  which  even 
a  mean  act  was  impossible.  It  was  said  in 
every  Northern  paper  that  he  (Mr.  Davis)  had 
carried  with  him  five  millions  in  gold  when 
quitting  Richmond — money  pilfered  from  the 
treasury  of  the  Confederate  States — and  there 
was  just  as  much  truth  in  that  as  in  these  im 
putations  against  Calhoun.  One  of  the  worst 
signs  of  the  times  is  the  looseness  with  which 
imputations  of  dishonesty  are  made  and  ac 
cepted  against  public  men  in  eminent  station. 
They  who  spit  against  the  wind,  spit  in  their 
own  faces,  and  such  charges  come  back  to 
soil  the  men  who  make  them.  If  an  indivi 
dual  has  any  proof  of  dishonesty  against  a 
public  man,  he  should  bring  his  charges  in 
due  form,  and  have  an  open  trial ;  but  when 
an  entire  people,  or  their  great  majority, 
greedily  accept  and  believe  any  unsupported 
imputation  of  corruption  against  a  distin 
guished  statesman  or  other  officer,  it  argues 
corruption  in  their  own  minds,  and  that  they 
suspect  it  in  others  because  conscious  it 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  207 

would  be  their  own  course  if  endowed  with 
power. 

Mr.  Davis  then  entered  upon  an  explan^. 
tion,  too  minute  for  me  to  follow,  of  the  man 
ner  in  which  these  charges  against  Mr.  Cal- 
houn  arose  from  the  malice  of  some  specula 
tors,  between  whose  avarice  and  the  public 
treasury  Mr.  Calhoun  had  interposed  his  pure 
and  powerful  influence.  Calhoun  was  a  states 
man,  a  philosopher,  in  the  true  sense  of  that 
grossly  abused  term — an  enthusiast  of  perfect 
liberty  in  representative  and  governmental 
action.  Wrong,  of  course,  in  his  conclusions, 
the  opponents  of  his  theory  were  free  to 
judge  him;  but  Mr.  Davis  believed  the  hands 
of  George  Washington  not  more  free  from 
the  filthiness  of  bribes,  than  were  those  of  the 
departed  statesman  who  had  been  thus  libel 
led.  Every  public  officer  who  crosses  the 
schemes  of  rogues  must  prepare  to  pay  this 
penalty.  There  was  not  a  General  in  either 
army  of  the  recent  war  who  was  not  accused 
by  sutlers  and  camp-followers  of  having  made 
fortunes  from  the  exactions  which  their  pow 


208  The  Prison  Life 

ers  allowed  them  to  impose.  While" the  astro 
nomer  dwells  in  his  tower  watching  the  stars, 
bats  may  breed  and  slimy  things  crawl  at  will 
in  the  foundation-story  of  his  edifice. 

August  ^th. — Visited  Mr.  Davis  with  Cap 
tain  Gusson,  3d  Pennsylvania  Artillery,  Offi 
cer  of  the  Day.  Found  prisoner  improving. 
Mentioned  that  I  had  spent  the  previous  day 
on  the  wreck  of  the  frigate  Congress,  sunk  by 
the  Merrimac,  describing  minutely,  at  his  re 
quest,  the  state  of  the  vessel,  and  the  process 
of  elevating  sunken  vessels  by  building  a 
bulkhead,  etc.,  and  the  use  of  powerful  pumps. 
Mr.  Davis  appeared  much  interested,  saying 
the  Congress  had  fought  gallantly,  and  that 
it  was  in  consequence  of  injuries  to  the  prow 
of  the  Merrimac  from  her  shot,  and  not  owing 
to  the  attack  of  the  Monitor,  that  the  Merri 
mac  had  been  compelled  to  retire.  These 
injuries  started  a  fatal  leak,  which  the  weight 
of  armor  rendered  it  impossible  to  cure ; 
and  this  was  the  true  cause  of  the  vessel's 
final  failure.  Mr.  Davis  also  spoke  of  the 
continued  advances  in  engineering  skill  and 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  209 

mechanical  contrivance.  When  the  Royal 
George  capsized,  she  went  to  the  bottom 
uninjured,  and  would  have  been  in  perfect 
order  had  such  means  for  raising  sunken  ves 
sels  been  then  known.  The  British  Govern 
ment  had  made  great  exertions,  and  offered 
large  rewards,  he  believed,  to  accomplish  this 
result,  but  without  success ;  and  only  such  small 
articles,  or  piecemeal  parts,  had  been  regained 
as  the  divers  could  fasten  ropes  to,  and  cause 
to  be  hauled  up.  With  the  exception  of  the 
Merrimac,  no  armed  vessel  of  the  South  had 
enjoyed  a  fortunate  career,  and  hers  was  brief. 
They  were  either  captured,  like  the  Atlanta, 
while  trying  to  run  out  to  sea,  or  destroyed 
by  our  war  vessels  and  gun-boats  while  still 
imperfect  and  unprepared  for  the  combat. 
The  capture  of  New  Orleans  was  a  great 
calamity  to  his  cause,  but  mainly  injurious 
from  its  sacrifice  of  the  inchoate  iron-clads  of 
the  Mississippi.  With  the  mouth  and  head 
waters  of  this  vital  river  in  our  possession, 
no  energy  could  have  warded  off  the  result 
beyond  a  certain  time,  if  the  North,  with  its 


2io  The  Prison  Life 

superior  resources  of  manufacture  and  pre 
ponderance  of  population,  should  see  fit  to 
persist.  Pemberton  made  a  splendid  defence 
of  Vicksburg.  He  had  been  blamed  for 
remaining  there,  but  this  was  the  last  hope  of 
saving  the  Mississippi  and  keeping  open  the 
beef,  and  other  commissary  supplies,  of  the 
trans-Mississippi  department. 

Had  General  Albert  Sidney  Johnston  lived, 
Mr.  Davis  was  of  opinion,  our  success  down 
the  Mississippi  would  have  been  fatally  check 
ed  at  Corinth.  This  officer  best  realized  his 
ideal  of  a  perfect  commander — large  in  view, 
discreet  in  council,  silent  as  to  his  own  plans, 
observant  and  penetrative  of  the  enemy's,  sud 
den  and  impetuous  in  action,  but  of  a  nerve 
and  balance  of  judgment  which  no  heat  of 
danger  or  complexity  of  manoeuvre  could  up 
set  or  bewilder.  All  that  Napoleon  said  of 
Dessaix  and  Kleber,  save  the  slovenly  habits 
of  one  of  them,  might  be  combined  and  truth 
fully  said  of  Albert  Sidney  Johnston.  John 
ston  had  been  opposed  to  locating  the  Confed 
erate  Capital  at  Richmond,  alleging  that  it 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  2 1  i 

would  involve  fighting  on  the  exterior  of  our 
circle,  in  lieu  of  the  centre:  and  that  as  the 
struggle  would  finally  be  for  whatever  point 
was  the  capital,  it  was  ill-advised  to  go  so  far 
north,  thus  shortening  the  enemy's  line  of 
transportation  and  supply.  Whatever  value 
this  criticism  may  have  had  in  a  military  point 
of  view,  added  Mr.  Davis,  there  were  political 
necessities  connected  with  Virginia  which  left 
no  choice  in  the  matter.  It  was  a  bold  court 
ing  of  the  issue,  clearly  planting  our  standard 
in  front  of  the  enemy's  line  and  across  his 
path.  Such  reflections  are  of  no_use  now, 
concluded  Mr.  Davis,  and  the  Spaniards  tell 
us  when  a  sorrow  is  asleep  not  to  waken  it. 

Talking  of  the  financial  future  of  the  South, 
he  believed  negro  labor  requisite  for  the  pro 
fitable  working  of  the  rice,  sugar,  and  cotton 
crops.  These  staples  peculiarly  demanded 
the  industry  of  this  race.  Germans,  or 
Irishmen,  could  grow  tobacco  with  profit, 
and  for  a  few  years,  perhaps,  cultivate  the 
other  staples ;  but  the  climatic  influences 
would  overpower  their  constitutions,  and  the 


212  The  Prison  Life 

rice-fields,  in  particular,  prove  deadly  to  any 
laborers  but  the  black. 

To  this  I  opposed  my  own  experience  on 
the  Sea  Islands  of  the  Southern  coast,  where 
I  had  cognizance  of  the  sanitary  condition  of 
an  average  of  fifteen  thousand  soldiers,  black 
and  white,  and  of  all  nationalities,  for  nearly 
three  years ;    and    the    result  had  been  that 
negroes,  to   the  "  manor  born,"  had  suffered 
more  than  any  others,  white  or  black,  with  the 
exception  of  the    troops    from   Maine.     The 
work  for  all   had  been    of  the    hardest   and 
heaviest ;    guard-duty   night    and   day   along 
creeks,   lagoons  and  swamps  ;    incessant  toil 
in    the  "  trenches    and    on    the   works ;    the 
severest  portion  of  these  labors  having  been 
performed  on  Morris  Island,  in  the  month  of 
July.     The    Southern    negro  refugees — men, 
women,   and   children,   living  in  villages  on 
Port  Royal,  St.  Helena,  Edisto,  Ladies,  and 
other  islands — suffered  more  from  the  fevers 
of  the  climate  than  our  black  troops  from  the 
North,  and  far  more  than  our  white  troops, 
who  were  the  healthiest  in  the  whole  armies 


.    of  Jefferson  Davis.  213 

of  the  Union,  with  the  exception  of  those 
from  the  inland  mountains  of  Maine,  and 
perhaps  New  Hampshire. 

Mr.  Davis  thought  this  very  possible,  but 
the  mortality  of  the  plantation  negroes  arose 
from  the  absence  of  restraint,  and  their 
inability  to  guide  themselves.  It  was  to  the 
master's  interest  that  they  should  be  kept  in 
health  by  regular  hours,  wholesome  food,  and 
proper  periods  of  rest.  The  license  of 
sudden  freedom  proved  too  much  for  their 
ignorant  passions,  and  became  perverted  into 
debauchery.  It  was  a  feast  or  a  famine  with 
them,  and  such  violent  changes  of  habit 
never  failed  to  work  ruin.  While  slaves, 
they  were  confined  to  their  quarters  after 
certain  hours  of  the  night,  and  thus  saved 
from  malarial  exposure ;  while  in  their  new 
liberty  they  doubtless  remained  abroad  until 
whatever  hour  they  pleased.  As  to  the 
health  of  the  white  troops,  the  excitement  of 
war  was  in  itself  a  prophylactic.  But  let  the 
same  men  try  regular  labor  in  time  of  peace, 
and  a  different  health-bill  would  be  returned. 


214  The  Prison  Life 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Mr.  Davis  on  Negro  Character. —  The  Assas 
sination  of  President  Lincoln. — How  the 
Prisoners  Food  was  Served. — A  Solemn 
and  Interesting  Statement. 

AUGUST  i4//z. — Had  been  absent  in  Balti 
more  on  official  business  some  few  days,  dur 
ing  which  Mr.  Davis  sent  for  me.  Called  with 
Captain  Evans,  Officer  of  the  Day,  and  ex 
plained  my  absence.  A  pustule,  somewhat 
malignant  in  character,  was  forming  on  pris 
oner's  face,  which  was  much  inflamed  and 
swollen.  He  reiterated  belief  that  the  case 
mate  was*  full  of  malarial  poison,  caused  by 
the  rising  and  falling  of  the  tide  in  the  ditch 
outside  (as  previously  explained),  and  wished 
the  Washington  people  would  take  quicker 
means  of  dispatching  him,  if  his  death  without 
trial  was  their  object.  That  it  was  so  he  was 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  215 

led  to  suspect,  for  a  trial  must  develop  many 
things  not  pleasant  to  those  in  power.  In 
particular  it  would  place  the  responsibility  for 
the  non-exchange  of  prisoners  where  it  be 
longed. 

Called  the  same  evening.  Prisoner  in  a 
high  fever,  the  swelling  of  his  face  spreading 
to  his  back  and  head,  with  indications  of 
latent  erysipelas.  Mr.  Davis  wished  he  could 
have  with  him  his  faithful  servant  Robert, 
who,  though  a  slave,  had  a  moral  nobility 
deserving  honor.  The  negroes  had  excellent 
traits  of  character,  but  required,  for  their  own 
sakes,  guidance  and  control.  They  were 
docile,  as  a  general  rule,  easily  imbued  with 
religious  sentiment,  quick  in  sympathies,  and 
of  warm  family  affection.  Their  passions, 
however,  were  intense  and  uncontrollable. 
Slavery  had  been  blamed  for  their  inconti 
nence,  but  this  was  unjust.  Were  the  free 
blacks  any  less  libidinous?  The  Southern 
slaves  were  incomparably  more  chaste,  or  less 
unchaste,  than  people  of  the  same  race  in  the 
North.  Slavery  was  a  restraint  upon  pro- 


216  The  Prison  Life 

miscuous  intercourse,  and  for  commercial  rea 
sons,  if  for  none  higher.  The  negroes  were 
improvident  to  a  degree  that  must  reduce 
them  to  destitution  if  not  cared  for.  They 
had  to  be  provided  with  fresh  seeds  for  their 
little  garden  patches  every  year,  no  remon 
strances  sufficing  to  make  them  provide  one 
season  for  the  wants  of  the  next.  It  was  in 
their  affections  they  were  strong,  and  many 
of  them  had  excellent  traits.  His  man  Rob 
ert  was  the  best  and  most  faithful  of  his  race, 
and  had  attended  him  through  many  serious 
illnesses.  Was  with  his  wife  on  board  the 
Clyde,  but  might  possibly  have  deserted  the 
sinking  ship  by  this  time.  Did  not  think  he 
would,  though  others  with  greater  claims  to 
keep  them  faithful  were  among  his  enemies.* 
August  \£>th. — Called  with  Captain  Gressin, 
Aide-de-Camp  of  General  Miles,  Officer  of 
the  Day.  Prisoner  suffering  severely,  but  in 
a  less  critical  state,  the  erysipelas  now  show 
ing  itself  in  his  nose  and  forehead.  Found 

*  See  letter  of  Mrs.  Davis  further  on,  in  regard  to  this 
worthy  servant. 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  2 1 7 

that  a  carbuncle  was  forming  on  his  left  thigh, 
Mr.  Da\  is  urging  this  as  proof  of  a  malarial 
atmosphere  in  his  cell,  reiterating  his  wish 
that,  if  the  Government  wanted  to  be  rid  of 
him  without  trial,  it  might  take  some  quicker 
process. 

Prisoner  said  he  had  never  held  much  hope 
for  himself  since  entering  Fortress  Monroe, 
and  was  now  losing  it  for  his  people.  The 
action  and  tone  in  regard  to  the  Richmond 
elections,  gave  evidence  that  the  policy  of 
"  woe  to  the  conquered  "  would  prevail.  What 
a  cruel  farce  it  was  to  permit  an  exercise  of 
the  elective  franchise,  with  a  proviso  that  the 
electors  must  cast  their  ballots  for  men  they 
despised  or  hated !  Either  all  pretence  of 
continuing  representative  government  should 
be  abandoned,  or  free  acceptance  given  to  the 
men  indorsed  by  the  people.  To  ask  men 
who  had  fought,  sacrificed,  and  lost  their  all 
for  a  cause,  to  wheel  suddenly,  and  vote  into 
power  men  they  despised  as  renegades  or 
cowards,  was  the  sin  of  attempting  to  seethe 
the  kid  in  its  mother's  milk.  Better  for  the 


10 


218  The  Prison  Life 

South  to  remain  disfranchised  forever,  than 
crawl  back  into  office  or  recognition  through 
such  incredible  apostasy.  Better  remain  pri 
soners,  than  be  citizens  on  such  terms.  In  no 
district  of  Virginia  could  what  we  called  a 
"  loyalist,"  muster  a  corporal's  guard  of  men 
with  similar  sentiments.  Why  organize  hy 
pocrisy  by  attempting  to  force  into  elective 
positions  men  who  were  not  representatives 
of  their  alleged  constituents — men  who  could 
only  excite  the  abhorrence  or  contempt  of 
ninety-nine  in  every  hundred  of  the  people? 
Either  the  South  should  be  declared  so  many 
conquered  provinces  under  military  rule,  or 
given  back  the  freedom  of  the  ballot.  To 
offer  bribes  for  wholesale  falsehood,  would  be 
found  poor  policy ;  and  the  men  hereafter  to 
create  trouble  in  the  South,  would  not  be  the 
gallant  and  well-born  gentlemen  who  fought 
loyally,  and  at  every  sacrifice  of  life  and  pro 
perty  for  a  cause  they  believed  right,  but  that 
small  scum  of  poltroons  and  renegades  who 
remained  "  neutral "  through  the  contest,  only 
anxious  to  avoid  danger  for  themselves,  and 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  219 

jump'over  to  the  side  that  won.  The  formei 
class  accepted  defeat,  and  would  loyally  pre 
serve  any  obligations  that  might  be  imposed 
on  them.  The  latter  were  worthless  and  piti 
ful  intriguers,  commanding  no  popular  confi 
dence,  chastened  by  no  memories  of  the  strug 
gle  ;  and  now  that  no  personal  risk  could  be 
incurred,  would  seek  to  attain  popularity — the 
popularity  of  demagogues — by  re-fanning  into 
flame  the  passions  and  prejudices  of  the  igno 
rant  and  vulgar.  They  will  be  clamorous  for 
Southern  rights,  now  that  Southern  rights  are 
dead,  and  out-Herod  Herod  in  their  professed 
devotion  to  the  Southern  cause. 

August  2O///. — Called  with  Captain  Evans, 
Officer  of  the  Day.  Mr.  Davis  suffering  great 
prostration,  a  cloud  of  erysipelas  covering  his 
whole  face  and  throat.  The  carbuncle  much 
inflamed.  Spirits  exceedingly  dejected,  evinc 
ed  by  anxiety  for  his  wife  and  children.  That 
he  should  die  without  opportunity  of  rebut 
ting  in  public  trial  the  imputed  stigma  of 
having  had  share  in  the  conspiracy  to  assas 
sinate  Mr.  Lincoln,  was  referred  to  frequently 


22O  The  Prison  Life 

and  painfully.  That  history  would  do  him 
justice,  and  the  criminal  absurdity  of  the 
charge  be  its  own  refutation,  he  had  cheerful 
confidence  while  in  health ;  but  in  his  feeble 
ness  and  despondency,  with  knowledge  how 
powerful  they  were  who  wished  to  affix  this 
stain,  his  alarm,  lest  it  might-  become  a  re 
proach  to  his  children,  grew  an  increasing 
shadow. 

Of  Mr.  Lincoln  he  then  spoke,  not  in 
affected  terms  of  regard  or  admiration,  but 
paying  a  simple  and  sincere  tribute  to  his 
goodness  of  character,  honesty  of  purpose,  and 
Christian  desire  to  be  faithful  to  his  duties 
according  to  such  light  as  was  given  him. 
Also  to  his  official  purity  and  freedom  from 
avarice.  The  Southern  press  labored  in  the 
early  part  of  the  war  to  render  Mr.  Lincoln 
abhorred  and  contemptible  ;  but  such  efforts 
were  against  his  judgment,  and  met  such 
opposition  as  his  multiplied  cares  and  labors 
would  permit.  Behind  Mr.  Lincoln,  during 
his  first  term,  stood  an  infinitely  more  objec 
tionable  and  less  scrupulous  successor  (Mr 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  221 

Hamlin) ;  and  the  blow  that  struck  down  the 
President  of  the  United  States  would  place 
that  successor  in  power.  When  Mr.  Lincoln 
was  reinaugurated,  the  cause  of  his  people 
was  hopeless,  or  very  nearly  so — the  struggle 
only  justifiable  in  continuance  by  its  better 
attitude  for  obtaining  terms ;  and  from  no 
ruler  the  United  States  could  have,  might 
terms  so  generous  have  been  expected.  Mr. 
Lincoln  was  kind  of  heart,  naturally  longing 
for  the  glory  and  repose  of  a  second  term  to 
be  spent  in  peace.  Mr.  Johnson,  being  from 
the  South,  dare  not  offer  such  liberal  treat 
ment;  his  motives  would  be  impugned.  In 
every  embittered  national  struggle,  proposals 
to  assassinate  the  rival  representatives  were 
common,  emanating  from  different  classes  of 
men,  with  different  motives  :  from  spies  of 
the  enemy,  wishing  to  obtain  evidence  how 
such  proposals,  would  be  received ;  from  fana 
tics,  religious  or  patriotic,  believing  the  act 
would  prove  acceptable  to  Heaven;  from  luna 
tics,  driven  mad  by  sufferings  connected  with 
the  struggle ;  and  from  boastful  and  often 


222.  The  Prison  Life 

cowardly  desperadoes,  seeking  gold  and  noto 
riety  by  attempting,  or  promising  to  attempt, 
the  crime.  At  the  time  it  occurred,  Mr.  Lin 
coln's  death,  even  by  natural  causes,  would 
have  been  a  serious  injury  to  the  prospects 
of  the  South ;  but  the  manner  of  his  taking- 
off,  frenzying  the  Northern  mind,  was  the  last 
crowning  calamity  of  a  despairing  and  defeat 
ed,  though  righteous  cause. 

August  list. — Called  with  Captain  Corlis, 
on  the  staff  of  General  Miles,  Officer  of  the 
Day.  Prostration  increased,  and  the  erysi 
pelas  spreading.  Deemed  it  my  duty  to  send 
a  communication  to  Major-General  Miles, 
reporting  that  I  found  the  State  prisoner, 
Davis,  suffering  severely  from  erysipelas  in 
the  face  and  head,  accompanied  by  the  usual 
prostration  attending  that  disease.  Also  that 
he  had  a  small  carbuncle  on  his  left  thigh,  his 
condition  denoting  a  low  state  of  the  vital 
forces. 

August  2$ct. — Called  with  Captain  Evans, 
3d  Pennsylvania  Artillery,  Officer  of  the  Day. 
Prisoner  a  little  improved,  febrile  symptoms 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  223 

subsiding.  Had  no  appetite  for  ordinary 
food,  but  found  the  coolness  and  moisture  of 
fruits  agreeable.  Said  he  had  concluded  not 
to  lose  any  more  spoons  for  me,  but  would 
retain  the  one  that  morning  sent  with  his 
breakfast.  Unless  things  took  a  change,  he 
would  not  require  it  long. 

[This  was  an  allusion  to  the  desire  some  of 
the  guards  had  to  secure  trophies  of  anything 
Mr.  Davis  had  touched.  They  had  carried 
away  his  brier-wood  pipe,  and  from  time  to 
time  taken  five  of  the  spoons  sent  over  with 
his  meals  from  my  quarters.  The  meals  were 
sent  over  by  a  bright  little  mulatto  boy  named 
Joe,  who  handed  them  to  the  sergeant  of  the 
guard  outside  the  casemate,  who  passed  them 
through  the  window  to  the  lieutenant  of  the 
guard  in  the  outer  cell,  by  whom  they  were 
handed  to  the  prisoner  through  the  grated 
doors  of  the  inside  room,  the  keys  of  which 
were  held  by  the  Officer  of  the  Day.  No 
knife  and  fork  being  allowed  the  prisoner, 
"  lest  he  should  commit  suicide,"  his  food  had 
to  be  cut  up  before  being  sent  over — a  need- 


224  The  Prison  Life 

less  precaution,  it  always  seemed  to  me,  and 
more  likely  to  produce  than  prevent  the  act, 
by  continually  keeping  the  idea  that  it  was 
expected  before  the  prisoner's  mind.  It  was 
in  returning  the  trays  from  Mr.  Davis  to  my 
quarters  that  the  spoons  were  taken — an 
annoyance  obviated  by  his  retaining  one  for 
use.  This  only  changed  the  form  of  trophy, 
however ;  napkins  that  he  had  used  being  the 
next  class  of  prizes  seized  and  sent  home 
to  sweethearts  by  loyal  warders  at  the 
gates.] 

Mr.  Davis  expressed  some  anxiety  as  to  his 
present  illness.  He  was  not  one  of  those  who, 
when  in  trouble,  wished  tf>  die.  Great  inva 
lids  seldom  had  this  wish,  save  when  protract 
ed  sufferings  had  weakened  the  brain.  Suicides 
were  commonly  of. the  robuster  class — men 
who  had  never  been  brought  close  to  death 
nor  thought  much  about  it  seriously.  A  good 
old  Bishop  once  remarked,  that  "  dying  was 
the  last  thing  a  man  should  think  about,"  and 
the  mixture  of  wisdom  and  quaint  humor  in 
the  phrase  had  impressed  Mr.  Davis.  Even  to 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  225 

Christians,  with  the  hope  of  an  immortal  future 
for  the  soul,  the  idea  of  physical  annihilation 
— of  parting  forever  from  the  tenement  of  flesh 
in  which  we  have  had  so  many  joys  and  sor 
rows — was  one  full  of  awe,  if  not  terror. 
What  it  must  be  to  the  unbeliever,  who  enter 
tained  absolute  and  total  annihilation  as  his 
prospect,  he  could  not  conceive.  Never  again 
to  hear  of  wife  or  children — to  take  the  great 
leap  into  black  vacuity,  with  no  hope  of  meet 
ing  in  a  brighter  and  happier  life  the  loved 
ones  left  behind,  the  loved  ones  gone  before ! 
He  had  more  reasons  than  other  men,  and 
now  more  than  ever,  to  wish  for  some  pro 
longation  of  life,  as  also  to  welcome  death. 
His  intolerable  sufferings  and  wretched  state 
argued  for  the  grave  as  a  place  of  rest.  His 
duties  to  the  cause  he  had  represented,  and 
his  family,  made  him  long  to  be  continued  on 
the  footstool,  in  whatever  pain  or  misery,  at 
least  until  by  the  ordeal  of  a  trial  he  could 
convince  the  world  he  was  not  the  monster 
his  enemies  would  make  him  appear,  and  that 
no  wilful  departures  from  the  humanities  of 


226  The  Prison  Life 

war  had  stained  the  escutcheon  of  his  people, 
Errors,  like  all  other  men,  he  had  committed ; 
but  stretched  now  on  a  bed  from  which  he 
might  never  rise,  and  looking  with  the  eyes 
of  faith,  which  no  walls  could  bar,  up  to  the 
throne  of  Divine  mercy,  it  was  his  comfort 
that  no  such  crimes  as  men  laid  to  his  charge 
reproached  him  in  the  whispers  of  his  con 
science. 

"  They  charge  me  with  crime,  Doctor,  but 
God  knows  my  innocence.  I  indorsed  no 
measure  that  was  not  justified  by  the  laws  of 
war.  Failure  is  all  forms  of  guilt  in  one  to 
men  who  occupied  my  position.  Should  I 
die,  repeat  this  for  the  sake  of  my  people,  my 
dear  wife,  and  poor  darling  children.  Tell 
the  world  I  only  loved  America,  and  that  in 
following  my  State  I  was  only  carrying  out 
doctrines  received  from  reverenced  lips  in  my 
early  youth,  and  adopted  by  my  judgment  as 
the  convictions  of  riper  years." 

.  Mr.  Davis  spoke  with  intense  earnestness — 
the  solemnity  of  a  dying  man,  though  not 
then,  in  my  judgment,  in  any  immediate 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  227 

danger.  His  words,  as  quoted,  were  taken 
down  on  my  return  to  quarters,  and  are  here 
given  for  what  eaqji  reader  may  think  them 
worth.  They  certainly  impressed  me  as  sin 
cere,  and  as  if — whether  true  or  not,  judged 
by  the  standard  of  law — the  speaker  uttered 
them  in  the  good  faith  of  a  religious  man, 
who  thought  daath  might  very  possibly  be 
near,  if  not  imminent  and  certain. 


228  The  Prison  Life 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Southern  Non-Belligerents. —  The  A  nt-L  ion 
and  its  Habits. — Mr.  Davis  on  the  Fulztre 
of  the  Southern  Blacks.. 

AUGUST  2^th. — Visited  Mr.  Davis  with  Cap 
tain  Titlow,  Officer  of  the  Day.  Found  him 
slightly  better  in  body  and  mind.  Expressed 
hope  that  no  sensational  reports  of  his  illness 
had  appeared  in  the  newspapers  to  alarm  his 
wife  more  than  necessary.  His  hope  was 
faint,  however.  The  swarm  of  newspaper 
correspondents,  more  than  quadrupled  by  the 
war,  no  longer  finding  food  for  their  pens  in 
camps  or  on  battle-fields,  had  to  seize  every 
item  of  the  slightest  interest  and  swell  it  into 
importance  by  exaggeration,  in  order  to  retain 
their  employment.  Spoke  of  the  superior 
literary  and  inventive  powers  of  our  corre- 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  229 

spondents  during  the  war.  To  contrabt  the 
dry  official  report  of  some  affair  of  outposts 
or  the  skirmish  line,  in  which  half  a  dozen 
men  on  either  side  had  been  killed  or 
wounded,  with  the  wonderfully  enlarged  and 
intensely  colored  mirage  of  the  same  appear- 
ing  some  few  days  subsequently  in  the  North 
ern  press,  formed  an  amusing  and  amazing 
study,  giving  one  a  higher  ideal  of  man's 
imaginative  power.  The  Southern  press,  on 
the  contrary,  was  short  of  printers,  short  of 
paper,  and  all  other  requisites  for  exciting 
journalism,  insomuch  that  latterly  only  the 
meagerest  skeletons  of  events  could  appear; 
and  even  official  documents,  and  debates  of 
the  highest  consequence,  had  to  be  briefly 
epitomized. 

Mr.  Davis*  said  the  press  of  the  South  had 
enjoyed  more  liberty  and  given  more  trouble 
to  its  government  than  that  of  the  North. 
Properly  conducted,  its  power  was  an  impor 
tant  adjunct  to  the  machinery  of  war;  but 
engineering  it  was  a  complex  study,  calling  for 
special  education  in  its  professor.  The  only 


230  The  Prison  Life 

men  still  remaining  vindictively  belligerent 
and  anxious  to  perpetuate,  trouble  in  the 
South — so  far  as  he  knew,  and  as  their  words 
could  reach — would  be  found  in  the  small-fry 
of  little  country  editors,  and  certain  classes  of 
civilians  who  had  been  exempted  from  mili 
tary  service  by  special  legislation,  the  purchase 
of  substitutes,  or  the  procurement  of  details. 
It  was  the  non-belligerents  of  actual  conflict 
who  had  always  been  and  would  remain  most 
ferociously  belligerent  in  speech  and  writing. 
Not  having  borne  arms  in  the  struggle,  they 
might  claim  rewards  for  their  loyalty  or 
neutrality  in  Federal  patronage,  or  offices  to  be 
filled  by  popular  vote ;  and  such  claims  would 
likely  be  allowed  by  our  people  to  the  exclu 
sion  of  those  fearless  and  honorable  men,  who 
— having  fought,  failed,  and  accepted  defeat — 
were  now  only  anxious  to  erase  all  painful 
souvenirs  and  legacies  of  the  unfortunate 
and  unavailing  strife. 

Observing  me  brush  away  with  my  foot 
some  crumbs  scattered  near  his  bedside,  Mr. 
Davis  asked  me  to  desist;  they  were  for  a 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  231 

mouse  he  was  domesticating — the  only  living 
thing  he  had  now  power  to  benefit.  The 
drawback  to  this  companionship  was,  that  the 
crumbs  called  forth  a  swarm  of  red  ants  as  well 
as  the  mouse ;  and  he  suggested,  with  a  smile, 
that  a  few  ant-lions  should  be  caught  and 
brought  in  from  the  beach.  Placed  in  a  cigar- 
box,  with  some  fine  sand  and  a  lump  of  sugar, 
or  a  few  dead  locusts,  to  attract  the  ants,  they 
would  soon  rid  him  of  his  insect  visitors,  and 
afford  him,  though  on  a  small  scale,  the 
nearest  approach  to  sport  he  could  now 
have. 

Finding  my  curiosity  excited,  Mr.  Davis 
then  described  the  ant-lion  with  much  minute 
ness  and  pleasant  humor,  saying  it  was  next 
to  the  bee  as  an  interesting  study  in  natural 
history.  It  is  about  the  size  of  a  small,  elon 
gated  pea,  three  legs  on  each  size,  a  forceps 
proportionably  immense  arming  its  head,  and 
between  these  nippers  a  sharp  stiletto,  which 
can  be  drawn  in  or  thrown  out  at  pleasure. 
It  is  found  all  along  the  Southern  coast,  and 
would  seem  to  have  a  difficult  problem  in  sup- 


232  The  Prison  Life 

porting  life.  It  is  painfully  slow  of  movement, 
always  walking  backward  and  dragging  its 
heavy  forceps  along  the  ground  behind  it; 
while  the  ants,  on  which  it  chiefly  preys,  are 
extremely  active.  Nature,  however,  has  com 
pensated  by  subtlety  what  the  ant-lion  lacks  in 
spring.  It  digs  a  funnel-shaped  hole  in  the 
fine  sand  of  the  Southern  coast,  circular  at  the 
top,  of  an  inch  diameter  and  an  inch  in  depth. 
At  the  bottom  it  secretes  itself  in  the  sand, 
only  its  forceps  protruding.  These  pitfalls  are 
located  about  an  inch  or  so  from  the  stems  of 
shrubs  or  tufts  of  grass — the  ants  flocking  to 
these  latter,  because  finding  in  them  a  species 
of  grass-louse  called  the  ant-cow,  which  the 
ant  milks  by  suction  as  its  favorite  food,  the 
cows  not  resisting  lest  worse  befall  them,  and 
not  appearing  injured  by  the  process.  While 
the  ants  are  thus  hastening  to  their  food,  some 
one  of  them  will  approach  the  brink  of  the 
ant-lion's  pitfall,  and  instantly  the  fine  sand  of 
the  edge  gives  way,  precipitating  the  unwary 
traveller  to  the  bottom.  Here  he  is  seized  by 
the  forceps,  and  firmly  held,  while  the  stiletto 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  233 

is  driven  through  his  body.  His  juices  are 
soon  sucked  dry  by  the  secreted  monster  of 
the  cave,  and  then  with  one  jerk  of  the  forceps, 
the  carcass  is  flung  up  and  out  two  or  three 
inches  beyond  the  edge  of  the  funnel — a  dis 
tance  as  much  as  if  a  man  were  thrown  one 
hundred  and  fifty  times  his  length.  Should 
the  ant,  when  first  tumbling,  escape  the  grasp 
of  the  forceps,  and  seek  to  clamber  out  of  the 
trap,  the  ant-lion  foils  the  attempt  by  jerking 
little  jets  of  sand  on  the  body  and  across  the 
path  of  his  flying  victim,  who  is  soon  stunned, 
bewildered,  and  losing  his  foot-grasp  on  the 
slippery  sides,  falls  back  a  helpless  prey  to  his 
destroyer.  Mr.  Davis,  when  on  the  coast  of 
Georgia,  many  years  ago,  had  often  spent 
hours  in  watching  them,  and  their  whole  per 
formance  could  be  witnessed  by  placing  one 
in  a  cigar-box  half  filled  with  fine  sand,  and 
dropping  in  some  sugar  or  a  dead  locust  to 
attract  the  ants.  The  ant-lion  would  not  be 
in  the  box  half  a  day,  before  commencing  to 
earn  his  livelihood  by  digging  out  his  trap. 
So  great  was  the  habit  of  subtlety  in  this  in- 


234  The  Prison  Life 

sect,  that  when  moving  from  place  to  place,  it 
always  burrowed  along  just  a  little  beneath 
'the  surface  of  the  sand;  and  he  had  heard,  if 
compelled  to  cross  a  stone,  log,  or  other  ob 
struction,  that  it  seized  a  chip  or  leaf  with  its 
forceps,  thereby  covering  its  body,  as  it  slowly 
and  painfully  toiled  backward.  This,  how 
ever,  he  could  not  verify  from  personal  obser 
vation. 

Every  conversation  of  this  kind  with  Mr. 
Davis  recalled  the  saying  of  some  eminent 
writer  whose  name  has  escaped  me,  that  "  it  is 
a  noble  thing  to  know  how  to  take  a  country 
walk,"  or  words  containing  that  idea,  but 
more  concisely  and  vividly  expressed.  Edu 
cated  by  the  microscope  and  habits  of  obser 
vation,  we  become  afraid  of  treading  on  some 
of  God's  beautiful  little  things  at  every  step. 

August  2^tk. — Called  upon  Mr.  Davis, 
accompanied  by  Captain  Gresson  of  the  staff 
of  Major-General  Miles,  Officer  of  the  Day. 
The  Captain  gave  me  an  order  from  General 
Miles,  allowing  State-prisoner  Davis  to  have  a 
knife  and  fork  with  his  meals  hereafter.  Mr. 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  235 

Davis  was  pleased,  but  said  he  had  learned 
many  new  uses  to  which  a  spoon  could  be 
put  when  no  other  implement  was  accessible. 
In  particular,  it  was  the  best  peach-peeler  ever 
invented,  and  he  illustrated  as  he  spoke  on  a 
fruit  that  lay  on  his  table.  Denying  him  a 
knife  and  fork  lest  he  should  commit  suicide, 
he  said,  was  designed  to  represent  him  to  the 
world  as  an  atrocious  criminal,  so  harrowed 
by  remorse  that  the  oblivion  of  death  would 
be  welcome.  His  early  shackles  had  partly 
the  same  object,  but  still  more  to  degrade  his 
cause. 

Prisoner's  health  very  delicate,  but  the 
erysipelas  subsiding.  Asked  could  he  soon 
resume  his  walks  in  the  open  air?  The 
change  of  scene  being  a  great  delight,  and 
the  exercise  improving  his  sleep. 

He  referred  to  an  account  he  had  been 
reading  of  an  attack  on  a  negro  named 
Davenport,  in  Connecticut,  for  marrying  or 
living  with  a  white  woman.  Also,  to  the 
New  York  riots,  in  which  mobs  rose  suddenly 
upon  the  blacks,  hanging  them  to  lamp-posts 


236  The  Prison  Life 

and  roasting  them  at  slow  fires.  The  papers 
bore  evidence,  from  all  sections,  of  increasing 
hostility  between  the  races,  and  this  was  but 
part  of  the  penalty  the  poor  negro  had  to  pay 
for  freedom.  The  more  political  equality  was 
given  or  approached,  the  greater  must  become 
the  social  antagonism  of  the  races.  In  the 
South,  under  slavery,  there  was  no  such  feel 
ing,  because  there  could  be  no  rivalry.  Chil 
dren  of  the  white  master  were  often  suckled 
by  negroes,  and  sported  during  infancy  with 
black  playmates.  Old  enough  to  engage  in 
manlier  exercise,  it  was  under  black  hunts 
men  the  young  whites  took  their  first  les 
sons  in  field-sports.  They  fished,  shot,  and 
hunted  together,  eating  the  same  bread, 
drinking  from  the  same  cup,  sleeping  under 
the  same  tree  with  their  negro  guide.  In 
public  conveyances  there  was  no  social  exclu 
sion  of  the  blacks,  nor  any  dislike  engen 
dered  by  competition  between  white  and  negro 
labor.  In  the  bed-chamber  of  the  planter's 
daughter  it  was  common  for  a  negro  girl  to 
sleep,  as  half  attendant  half  companion;  and 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  237 

while  there  might  be,  as  in  all  countries  and 
amongst  all  races,  individual  instances  of 
cruel  treatment,  he  was  well  satisfied  that 
between  no  master  and  laboring  classes  01 
earth  had  so  kindly  and  regardful  a  feeling 
subsisted.  To  suppose  otherwise  required  a 
violation  of  the  known  laws  of  human  nature. 
Early  associations  of  service,  affection  and 
support  were  powerful.  To  these  self-interest 
joined.  The  horse  we  hire  for  a  day  may  be 
fed  or  not  fed,  groomed  or  not  groomed,  when 
returned  to  the  livery-stable.  The  horse 
owned  by  us,  and  for  which  we  have  paid  a 
thousand  or  fifteen  hundred  dollars,  is  an 
object  both  of  pride  and  solicitude.  His 
grooming,  stabling,  and  feeding  are  cared  for. 
If  sick  he  is  doctored,  and  cured  if  possible. 
When  at  work,  it  is  the  owner's  interest  that 
he  shall  not  be  overtaxed. 

The  attainment  of  political  equality  by  the 
negro  will  revolutionize  all  this.  It  will  be  as 
if  our  horses  were  given  the  right  of  intruding 
into  our  parlors ;  or  brought  directly  into 
competition  with  human  labor,  no  longer 


238  The  Prison  Life 

aiding  it  but  as  rivals.  Put  large  gangs  of 
white  laborers,  belonging  to  different  nation 
alities,  at  work  beside  each  other,  and  feuds 
will  probably  break  out.  Endeavor  to  sup 
plant  a  thousand  Irishmen  working  on  3 
levee  or  canal  by  a  thousand  Germans  ready 
to  accept  lower  wages,  or  vice  versa,  and 
military  power  will  be  required  to  keep  the 
peace.  Emancipation  does  this  upon  a  gigan 
tic  scale  and  in  the  most  aggravated  form. 
It  throws  the  whole  black  race  into  direct 
and  aggressive  competition  with  the  laboring 
classes  of  the  whites ;  and  the  ignorance  of 
the  blacks,  presuming  on  their  freedom,  will 
embitter  every  difference.  The  principle  of 
compensation  prevails  everywhere  through 
nature,  and  the  negroes  will  have  to  pay,  in 
harsher  social  restrictions  and  treatment,  for 
the  attempt  to  invest  them  with  political 
equality.  To  endow  them  with  the  ballot  by 
Act  of  Congress  was  impossible,  until  the 
trunk  of  the  Constitution,  already  stripped  of 
many  branches  once  full  of  shade  and  plea 
sant  singing-birds,  was  torn  up  by  the  roots. 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  239 

Each  State  had  the  privilege  of  deciding  the 
qualifications  of  its  own  citizens ;  and  some 
of  the  States  most  clamorous  for  universal 
negro  suffrage  in  the  South,  where  such  a 
measure  would  send  unlettered  blacks  to  both 
Houses  of  Congress,  and  pass  the  State  Legis 
lature  and  judiciary  altogether  into  their 
hands,  themselves  refused  the  ballot  to  the 
negro,  though  not  numerous  enough  in  any 
district  to  decide  the  majority  of  a  pound- 
keeper. 

Took  issue  with  Mr.  Davis  on  the  labor 
question.  What  necessity  for  competition  in 
a  country  so  vast,  and  only  partially  develop 
ed,  as  the  South  ?  The  relations  of  the  races 
would  adjust  themselves,  linger  the  laws  of 
supply  and  demand,  and  the  whites  still  own 
ed  their  old  plantations  and  other  property, 
which  was  their  capital ;  and  to  this  the-  labor 
of  the  "blacks  would  have  to  bow.  White  labor 
could  not  long  remain,  nor  to  any  great  ex 
tent,  in  competition  with  black.  It  had  ac 
cumulative  energies,  guided  by  intelligence, 
which  must  soon  lift  it  into  the  employing 


240  The  Prison  Life 

class ;  while  the  blacks,  if  so  incapable  of 
thrift  as  he  seemed  to  think,  must  remain 
hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water  for  ever. 
The  antagonisms  of  so  violent  a  revolution 
in  the  labor-system  of  the  South  were  natural, 
but  must  soon  fade  out.  There  never  had 
been  any  desire  North  to  give  the  negroes 
social  equality;  but  our  pride,  not  less  than 
sense  of  justice,  demanded  that  there  should 
be  no  political  bar  to  their  improving  their 
own  condition  to  equal  that  of  the  whites,  if 
they  possessed  the  capacity  for  such  elevation. 
As  to  the  outrages  upon  the  blacks  in  New 
York,  they  were  the  work  of  a  few  abandoned 
and  maddened  wretches — men  certainly  not 
representing  nor  belonging  to  the  party  in 
control  of  our  national  destinies.  It  was  a 
riot  to  resist  the  draft,  and  the  inoffensive 
blacks  became  objects  of  vengeance,  from  the 
democratic  cry  that  the  war  making  the  draft 
necessary  was  a  "  war  for  the  nigger."  The 
case  in  Connecticut  was  a  protest  in  violent 
and  illegal  form  of  certain  turbulent  whites 
against  the  intermarrying  of  the  races.  It 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  241 

was  lawless,  of  course,  and  one  of  the  rioters 
had  lost  his  life  at  the  hands  of  the  black, 
who  was  held  justifiable.  Nevertheless,  the 
sentiment  that  prompted  the  attack  —  one 
of  the  opposition  to  such  deteriorating  inter- 
mi  nglements — was  all  but  universal,  and  offer 
ed  sufficient  guarantee  that  the  dominant  race 
would  never  suffer  material  injury  to  its  blood 
or  character  from  the  political  equality  of  the 


negroes. 


Mr.  Davis  said  no  argument  could  make 
us  agree,  for  we  occupied  different  planes  of 
observation.  There  could  be  no  problem  of 
the  negro  at  the  North,  for  they  were  too  few 
to  be  of  consequence  ;  and  each  census  show 
ed  their  number  diminishing.  It  was  in  the 

C5 

Cotton  States,  where  they  equalled,  and  in 
many  districts  largely  outnumbered  the  whites, 
that  the  adjustment  of  relationship  would 
prove  impossible  under  such  ideas  as  now 
threatened  to  prevail  in  the  Federal  Govern 
ment.  As  for  himself  and  his  people,  they 
were  now  only  passengers  in  the  ship  of  State 
— no  longer  of  the  crew,  nor  with  places  on 


ii 


242  The  Prison  Life 

the  quarter-deck;  and  must  take,  he  s-upposed, 
whatever  decision  of  the  question  the  powers 
that  had  lifted  themselves  above  the  Consti 
tution  might  see  fit  to  impose. 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  243 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

Mr.  Davis  on  Fenianism. — Highly  Important* 
— His  Views  of  Reconstruction. 

AUGUST  26/7*. — Called  upon  Mr.  Davis,  ac 
companied  by  Captain  Evans,  3d  Pennsyl 
vania  Artillery,  Officer  of  the  Day.  Health 
slightly  improved,  and  spirits  decidedly  more 
cheerful. 

Mr.  Davis  said  his  imprisonment  had  one 
advantage,  giving  him  time  to  re-read  Ban 
croft's  History  of  the  United  States,  and  read 
Macaulay's  History  of  England — the  latter 
something  he  had  long  wished,  but  could  not 
find  time  for.  The  system  of  settlement  and 
confiscations  under  Cromwell,  in  Ireland,  was 
precisely  what  his  people  were  now  threaten 
ed  with.  The  cry  then  was,  "  To  *  *  *  *  or 
Connaught!"  whither  an  attempt  was  made 


244  The  Prison  Life 

to  drive  and  herd  together  the  whole  people 
Whole  estates,  and  even  counties,  were  con 
fiscated  by  orders  in  council,  on  no  other  plea 
than  that  the  proprietors  were  either  of  the 
Irish  race,  or,  being  born  on  Irish  soil,  had 
Irish  sympathies  or  habits.  This  history  now 
threatened  to  repeat  itself  in  the  United 
States,  the  cry  only  varying  to  read,  "  To 
*  or  Mexico  !"  and  the  locality  changed 
from  Ireland  to  the  South.  There  was  no 
excuse  for  it  here ;  there  had  been  some  in 
Ireland.  Between  the  conquering  forces  of 
Cromwell  and  the  Irish  there  were  essential 
differences  of  race,  religion,  habits,  laws,  and 
hopes.  There  had  been  war  for  centuries, 
and  no  promise  of  future  tranquillity  on  less 
rigorous  terms.  Were  the  races  the  same, 
though  controlled  by  different  ideas ;  their 
religion,  habits,  and  laws  almost  identical,  and 
with  only  a  single  internecine  war  to  inter 
rupt  the  harmony  of  their  joint  occupation  of 
the  continent — there  was  the  further  parallel 
that  both  countries  suffered  for  loyalty  to  what 
each  regarded  as  the  rightful  government; 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  245 

Ireland,  for  devotion  to  the  Royal  Family  of 
the  Stuarts  ;  and  the  South,  for  its  fidelity 
to  the  principles  defined  by  the  Constitution 
of  1787. 

The  present  Fenian  movement  for  Ireland 
was  a  farce  to  make  angels  weep.  The  last 
attempt  was  in  1848,  when  the  population 
of  Ireland  was  more  than  a  million  larger — 
the  movement  originating  at  home,  and 
all  Europe  in  a  convulsive  and  volcanic 
condition.  History  gave  no  example  of  an 
oppressed  race  that  had  accepted  exile,  return 
ing  with  success  to  liberate  their  native  land. 
The  aristocratic  refugees  of  the  French  Revo 
lution,  indeed,  got  back  to  their  country,  but 
only  under  the  swords  of  a  combination  in 
which  England,  Austria,  Russia,  Prussia,  and 
the  German  States  were  enlisted,  with  their 
whole  military  resources.  It  was  a  mere 
catch-penny  clamor  of  designing  demagogues 
in  its  cis-Atlantic  aspect;  nor  could  he  see 
that  in  Ireland  there  was  organization,  or 
even  a  vigorous  purpose  to  accomplish  the 
object  proposed.  England's  control  of  the 


246  The  Prison  Life 

sea  was  absolute,  at  least  so  near  home 
against  any  less  combination  than  the  navies 
of  France  and  America.  To  land  men  or 
arms  in  any  sufficient  quantity  in  Ireland, 
would  require  some  desperate  sea-fights  by 
navy  with  navy,  and  a  transport  fleet,  costing 
for  vessels  and  their  equipment  not  less  than 
some  hundred  millions.  The  men  engaged 
in  this  matter  must  be  either  fools  or  rogues. 
He  had  no  special  cause  to  love  England,  nor 
dislike ;  but  such  impracticable  and  pigmy 
threatenings  of  her  empire  would  be  ludi 
crous  if  not  too  sad.  Against  the  rocks  of 
her  coast,  storm-clouds  of  a  thousandfold  the 
Fenian  power  had  dashed  with  clamor  of 
waves  and  mist  of  spray,  but  next  morning 
the  sun  shone  bright  again,  the  air  was  calm, 
and  only  in  a  shore  strewn  with  wrecks  could 
evidence  be  found  of  any  past  commotion. 

Asking  Mr.  Davis  what  were  his  views  in 
regard  to  the  reconstruction  of  the  Union,  he 
spoke  pretty  nearly  verbatim  as  follows; 
this  report  not  being  condensed  as  with  other 
conversations,  but  taken  down  in  full  from 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  247 

memory,  immediately  on  my  return  to  quar 
ters  : 

"  We  could  not  otherwise  define  reconstruc 
tion,  than  as  a  renewal  to  and  by  all  the  States, 
of  all  the  rights,  privileges,  duties,  immunities, 
and  obligations  prescribed  and  recognized  by 
the  Constitution,  or  original  compact  of  Union. 
There  were -several  possible  alternatives  to  this 
plan  of  reconstruction : 

"  i st.  Consolidation:  the  swallowing  up  of 
all  State  governments  by  the  General  Gov 
ernment,  making  the  whole  country  one  State, 
only  divided  into  provinces  for  easier  adminis 
tration,  but  connected  as  one  entity  of  policy 
and  power. 

"2d.  Territorialism :  the  control  of  the 
Southern  States  by  a  Congress  and  Executive 
representing  only  the  Northern  States — that 
is,  colonial  vassalage  and  government  by 
authority  of  greater  force. 

"  3d.  By  open  subversion  and  usurpation  to 
establish  a  despotism  over  North  and  South, 
while  yet  preserving  a  certain  Republican 
form. 


248  The  Prison  Life 

"  In  replying  to  one  who  served  through  the 
war  for  no  other  purpose,  as  you  avow,  than 
to  defend  and  maintain  the  Union  as  defined 
by  the  Constitution,"  continued  Mr.  Davis, 
"  there  can  be  no  necessity  for  considering  any 
other  policy  than  that  of  re-establishing  the 
relations  of  all  the  States  and  their  citizens  to 
each  other  and  the  United  States  Gov 
ernment. 

"  Every  man's  experience  must  teach  him 
that  quarrels  between  friends  are  best  healed 
when  they  are  healed  most  promptly.  The 
alienation  which  was  at  first  a  pain,  becomes 
by  time  habitual,  and  the  mantle  of  charity 
being  withdrawn,  the  faults  of  each  become 
more  and  more  distinct  to  the  other,  and  thus 
the  bitterest  hates  naturally  spring  from  the 
ashes  of  the  closest  friendship. 

"It  is  therefore  probably  to  be  regretted 
that  so  much  delay  has  occurred  in  the  work 
of  reconstruction,  because  of  the  enhance 
ment  thereby  of  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of 
speedy  and  cordial  reconciliation.  This 
opinion  is  qualified  as  '  probable,'  because  of 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  249 

my  want  of  recent  intercourse  with  the  people. 
A  short  time  before  the  close  of  the  war,  the 
idea  was  infused  into  my  people,  as  you  are 
well  aware,  that  if  they  would  cease  resistance, 
the  Union  would  be  restored,  and  all  their 
rights  of  person  and  property  respected,  save 
the  property  held  in  slaves,  which  would  be  a 
question  for  the  courts.  I  have  no  doubt 
that  a  majority — a  very  large  majority — of  the 
Southern  people  accepted  this  proposed  settle 
ment  with  singleness  of  purpose ;  and  would, 
if  confidingly  and  generously  treated,  have 
been  now  industriously  engaged  in  repairing 
their  wrecked  fortunes,  without  any  thought 
of  again  resisting  or  obstructing  the  General 
Government  in  its  ordinary  functions. 

"  How  far  the  public  wealth  would  by  this 
course  have  been  increased,  the  public  expen 
ditures  lessened,  may  be  measured  by  many 
hundred  millions  of  dollars.  If  it  be  true  that 
much  has  been  lost,  morally  and  materially, 
by  delay,  it  would  seem  that  true  policy  indi 
cates  the  promptest  action  in  what  is  termed 
Reconstruction.  The  North  says  we  have 


ir 


250  The  Prison  Life 

done  evil,  and  when  bidding  us  'cease  to  do 
evil'  should  not  prevent  us  'learning  to  do 
well.'  This  can  only  be  done  by  removing  all 
impediments  to  the  exercise  of  State  functions 
and  the  re-enjoyment  of  such  civil  and  politi 
cal  rights  as  are  left  us  in  the  Union. 

"  Each  House  of  Congress  is  judge  of  the 
election  and  qualification  of  its  own  members. 
The  Constitution  has  settled  the  question  of 
representation.  A  constituency  may  lose  its 
rights  for  a  time  by  selecting  ineligible  per 
sons  to  be  its  representatives ;  but  the  right 
of  representation  is  not  impaired  thereby,  and 
the  mistake  or  abuse  may  be  remedied  by  a 
new  election.  Test-oaths  are  evil  continually, 
and  only  evil.  They  restrain  those  honorable 
men  who  require  no  fetters,  while  men  of  a 
different  class  will  either  take  them  perjurious- 
ly  or  with  a  'mental  reservation.'  All  history 
has  proved  them  ineffectual  and  something 
worse. 

"  Our  forefathers  emigrated  to  a  wilderness, 
and  waged  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  to  have 
and  to  hold  a  government  founded  on  the  con- 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  251 

sent  of  the  governed.  They  consulted  and 
compromised  with  each  other  to  establish  a 
voluntary  Union.  If  that  idea  is  to  be  follow 
ed,  confidence,  generosity,  fraternity,  and  not 
test-oaths,  disabilities,  and  armies  quartered  in 
the  interior,  must  be  relied  upon  to  restore  the 
Union  and  make  it  re-effective  for  the  ends 
for  which  it  was  formed. 

"  Reconstruction,"  continued  Mr.  Davis, 
"cannot  properly  involve  or  be  made  to 
depend  on  those  social  problems  which  have 
arisen  from  the  sudden  disruption  of  the 
relations  existing  between  the  white  and  the 
black  races  in  the  Southern  States.  These 
problems  belong  to  the  several  States,  and 
must  have  treatment  according  to  the  dif 
ferent  circumstances  of  each.  No  general 
rule  can  properly  be  made  applicable  to  all, 
and  it  will  prove  unfortunate  if  the  subject  is 
controlled  by  distant  and  but  poorly-informed, 
if  not  prejudiced  authority.  The  self-interest 
of  individuals  and  communities,  together  with 
the  demand  for  labor  so  far  exceeding  the 
supply,  may  safely  be  left  to  protect  the  laborer. 


252  The  Prison  Life 

The  public  actions  of  the  Southern  State 
Conventions  furnishes  conclusive  evidence  of 
the  desire  of  the  Southern  people  to  resume 
their  position  in  the  Union ;  and  it  must 
strike  all  observers  with  surprise,  that  while 
those  who  strove  so  desperately  to  leave  the 
Union,  are  now  so  earnestly  endeavoring  to 
reassume  their  places  in  it,  it  is  the  very  men 
who  sent  fire  and  sword  to  destroy  them,  or 
compel  them  to  return,  who  now  bar  the 
door  and  deny  them  readmission  to  that  very 
condition  to  which  it  was  throughout  the 
war  proclaimed  to  be  their  first  and  last  duty 
to  return.  Solitary  reflection,"  concluded 
Mr.  Davis,  "has  gi\^en  me  no  key  to  the 
mysterious  origin  of  this  change  in  Northern 
opinion,  which  I  find  evidenced  in  every 
newspaper  that  reaches  me ;  and  perhaps 
my  own  sad  state  has  tinged  with  its  gloom 
the  vista  of  the  future,  if,  thus  alienated,  dis 
jointed,  and  adrift,  the  country  should  be 
visited  with  such  trials  of  foreign  war,  either 
with  France  or  England,  or  both,  as  are  now 
so  often  suggested  in  the  public  journals  of 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  253 

America,  and  their  extracts  from  the  European 
press." 

This  conversation  impressed  me  much,  and 
has  been  recorded  with  peculiar  care,  Mr. 
Davis  delivering  it  with  great  deliberation 
and  earnestness,  as  though  the  subject  were 
one  upon  which  he  had  been  reflecting.  It  is 
as  nearly  as  possible  reproduced  in  his  own 
words,  without  abridgment,  and  may,  per 
haps,  be  of  some  suggestive  value — perhaps 
of  none.  Let  the  wise  of  the  land  determine. 


254  The  Prison  Life 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

Mr.  Davis  seriously  III. — Change  of  Quarters 
officially  Recommended. —  The  Pictures  and 
Poetry  of  the  Bible. — Lafayette  s  Impri 
sonment. — Marvellous  Memory  and  great 

Variety  of  Knowledge. — Mr.  Davis  on 
Female  Lecturers. —  The  True  Mission  of 

Women. 

SEPTEMBER  ist. — Was  called  at  daylight  by 
Captain  Titlow,  Officer  of  the  Day,  to  see 
State-prisoner  Davis,  who  appeared  rapidly 
sinking,  and  was  believed  in  a  critical  condi 
tion.  The  carbuncle  on  His  thigh  was  much 
inflamed,  his  pulse  indicating  extreme  prostra 
tion  of  the  vital  forces.  The  erysipelas  which 
had  subsided  now  reappeared,  and  the  febrile 
excitement  ran  very  high.  Prescribed  such 
remedies,  constitutional  and  topical,  as  were 
indicated ;  but  always  had  much  trouble  to 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  255 

persuade  him  to  use  the  stimulants  so  urgently 
needed  by  his  condition.  Let  me  here  say, 
however,  that  in  docility  and  a  strict  adhe 
rence  to  whatever  regimen  was  prescribed 
Mr.  Davis  was  the  model  patient  of  my  prac 
tice.  He  seemed  to  regard  the  doctor  as 
captain  of  the  patient's  health,  and  obeyed 
every  direction,  however  irksome,  disagreeable, 
or  painful,  with  military  exactness. 

Mr.  Davis  renewed  his  complaints  of  the 
vitiated  atmosphere  of  the  casemate,  declaring 
it  to  be  noxious  and  pestilential  from  the 
causes  before  noticed.  Mould  gathered  upon 
his  shoes,  showing  the  dampness  of  the  place ; 
and  no  animal  life  could  prosper  in  an  atmo 
sphere  that  generated  these  hyphomycetous 
fungi.  From  the  rising  and  falling  of  the 
tides  in  the  loose  foundations  of  the  casemate, 
mephitic  fungi  emanated,  the  spores  of  which, 
floating  in  the  air,  were  thrown  off  in  such 
quantities,  and  with  such  incessant  repetitions 
of  reproduction,  as  to  thoroughly  pervade  the 
atmosphere,  entering  the  lungs  and  blood 
with  every  breath,  and  redeveloping  their 


256  The  Prison  Life 

poisonous  qualities  in  the  citadel  of  life. 
Peculiar  classes  of  these  fungi  were  charac 
teristics  of  the  atmosphere  in  which  cholera 
and  other  forms  of  plague  were  most  rankly 
generated,  as  had  been  established  by  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Osborne,  in  a  long  and  interesting 
series  of  experimental  researches  with  the 
achromatic  microscope  during  the  cholera 
visitation  of  1854  in  England.  Men  in  robust 
health  might  defy  these  miasmatic  influences; 
but  to  him,  so  physically  reduced,  the  atmo 
sphere  that  generated  mould  found  no  vital 
force  sufficient  to  resist  its  poisonous  inhala 
tion. 

Assured  Mr.  Davis  that  his  opinion  on  the 
matter  had  for  some  time  been  my  own,  and 
that  on  several  occasions  I  had  called  the  at 
tention  of  Major-General  Miles  to  the  subject 
Satisfied  that  the  danger  was  now  serious  if 
he  were  longer  continued  in  such  an  atmo 
sphere,  I  would  make  an  official  report  on  the 
subject  to  the  General  Commanding,  recom 
mending  a  change  of  quarters. 

Referring   to   the   consolation    he   derived 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  257 

from  the  Bible,  Mr.  Davis  spoke  of  its  power 
to  present  beautiful  and  comforting  pictures, 
full  of  promise  and  instruction,  apposite  to 
every  situation  of  joy  or  calamity  in  life,  but 
never  so  well  appreciated  as  in  our  moments 
of  deepest  despondency  and  sorrow.  No  pic 
ture  had  impressed  him  more  than  that  of 
Abraham  preparing  to  sacrifice  Isaac,  his  son 
— the  son  of  promise.  The  grim  fidelity  of 
the  narrative  only  heightened  its  irresistible 
pathos.  The  sad  journey  to  Mount  Moriah 
of  Abraham  with  his  two  young  men  and 
Isaac,  the  father  only  knowing  the  terrible 
burden  of  the  duty  imposed  on  him  by 
angelic  order.  The  halt  when  they  came 
in  sight  of  the  hill  of  sacrifice.  Abraham's 
brief,  sad  order  to  his  two  attendants:  "Abide 
ye  here  with  the  ass,  and  I  and  the  lad  will 
go  up  yonder  and  worship."  The  silent 
procession  to  the  place  of  sacrifice,  Isaac  with 
the  wood  upon  his  shoulders,  the  father  strid 
ing  along  in  dumb  despair,  with  the  knife  in 
one  hand  and  the  torch  in  the  other.  Isaac's 
child-like  inquiry,  "  Behold  the  fire  and  the 


258  TJie  Prison  Life 

wood,  but  where  is  the  lamb  for  a  burnt- 
offering?"  and  Abrahams  reply  of  faith, 
Jehovah  jireh — "  My  son,  God  will  provide 
it."  Last  scene  of  all,  the  son  of  promise 
bound  on  the  faggots  his  young  shoulders 
had  so  joyously  borne  ;  the  miserable  father 
bending  over  the  lad  he  loved,  the  joy  of  his  old 
age,  grasping  the  knife  that  was  to  slay  him. 
Then  comes  the  Divine  interference,  in  the 
voice  of  the  angel  once  again.  The  promise 
of  faith,  Jehovah  jireh,  is  redeemed,  and  be 
hind  the  father,  as  he  turns,  beholds  a  ram 
entangled  in  a  thicket  by  his  horns.  In  many 
an  hour  of  bitter  calamity  the  words  Jehovah 
jireh  had  been  his  only  consolation.  When 
troubles  that  seemed  hopeless  of  extrication 
encompassed  him  on  every  side,  the  words 
Jehovah  jireh  were  full  of  whispering  con 
solation  to  his  spirit.  His  mind  had  framed 
the  picture  in  gold,  and  it  was  but  one  of  a 
thousand. 

Another  beautiful  picture  Mr.  Davis  spoke 
of  as  suspended  in  the  gallery  through  which 
his  thoughts,  in  their  despondent  moments, 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  259 

loved  to  trace.  Dark  night  over  Jerusalem. 
A  little  group,  a  Master  and  faithful  follow 
ers,  emerging  from  the  gates.  As  they  de 
scend  into  the  valley,  their  mantles  are  drawn 
more  closely  round  their  hurrying  and  silent 
figures,  for  the  night-wind  is  chill  and  damp. 
Where  the  little  brook  Kedron  runs,  we  see 
them  picking  their  way  across  the  stones ; 
and  now  they  move  silently  up  the  Mount  of 
Olives  into  the  Garden  of  Gethsemane.  That 
night,  before  quitting  Jerusalem,  they  had  sat 
at  supper — a  Supper  since  commemorated  in 
all  Christian  lands ;  and  as  they  sat  and  did 
eat,  the  Master  foretold  that  one  of  these  fol 
lowers  should  betray  Him.  And  now  they 
have  arrived  at  the  garden ;  and  the  Master, 
calling  three  of  His  most  beloved  disciples, 
leads  them  apart  from  the  others,  and  breathes 
into  their  ears  as  they  move  along  in  the 
double  shadows  of  night  and  the  olive  grove, 
that  "  His  soul  is  sorrowful  even  unto  death." 
When  sufficiently  removed  from  the  larger 
group,  and  as  they  approach  a  darker  cluster 
of  olives,  the  Master  says  to  the  three,  "  Tarry 


260  The  Prison  Life 

ye  here  and  watch."  In  the  great  agony  that 
is  upon  Him,  He  longs  to  be  alone.  Already 
the  burden  of  the  sins  of  mankind,  whom  He 
so  loves  that  He  is  about  to  die  for  them, 
grows  too  weighty  for  his  tenement  of  flesh. 
About  a  stone's  cast  from  the  lesser  group, 
the  Master  falls  upon  the  ground,  and  prays 
with  thick  sobs  into  the  pitying  darkness,  that 
if  it  be  possible,  this  hour  may  pass  from  Him 
— the  human  in  His  nature  crying  out  under 
its  intolerable  burden,  "  Take  away  this  cup 
from  me ;  for  with  thee,  O  Father,  all  things 
are  possible."  But  again  the  Divine  will  be 
comes  paramount;  faith  reasserts  her  ascen 
dancy;  and  bowing  His  head  upon  His  hands, 
the  Master  sobs,  "  Nevertheless,  not  my  will, 
but  thine  be  done."  And  here,  as  with  Abra 
ham  on  the  hill  of  Jehovah  jireh,  an  angel 
appears  to  strengthen  and  comfort  the  obe 
dient  heart.  Mr.  Davis  said  he  could  bear 
to  witness  the  agonizing  scene  of  the  garden, 
but  wished  to  blot  from  his  memory  the  un 
faithfulness  of  the  watchers. 

Mr.  Davis  again  spoke  of  the  wretchedness 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  261 

of  being  constantly  watched — of  feeling  that 
a  human  eye,  inquisitive  and  pitiless,  was  fix 
ed  upon  all  his  movements  night  and  day. 
This  was  one  of  the  torments  imposed  on  the 
Marquis  de  Lafayette  in  the  dungeons  of 
Magdeburgh  and  Olmutz.  Indeed,  the  pa 
rallel  between  their  prison  lives,  if  not  in 
some  other  respects,  was  remarkable.  Lafay 
ette  was  denied  the  use  of  knife  or  fork,  lest 
he  should  commit  self-destruction.  He  was 
confined  in  a  casemate,  or  dungeon,  of  the 
two  most  powerful  fortresses  of  Prussia  first, 
and  then  Austria.  While  in  Magdeburgh,  he 
found  a  friend  in  the  humane  physician,  who 
repeatedly  reported  that  the  prisoner  could 
not  live  unless  allowed  to  breathe  purer  air 
than  that  of  his  cell ;  and  on  this  recommen 
dation — the  Governor  at  first  answering  that 
he  "was  not  ill  enough  yet" — the  illustrious 
prisoner  was  at  length  allowed  to  take  the  air 
— sometimes  on  foot,  at  other  times  in  a  car 
riage,  but  always  accompanied  by  an  officer 
with  drawn  sword  and  two  armed  guards. 
Mr.  Davis  then  narrated,  with  great  spirit 


262  The  Prison  Life 

and  minuteness,  the  efforts  made  by  Count 
Lally-Tolendal,  assisted  by  Dr.  Eric  Boll- 
mann,  of  Hanover,  and  Mr.  Huger,  of  South 
Carolina,  to  effect  Lafayette's  liberation.  Mr. 
Huger  was  a  young  gentleman  of  Huguenot 
extraction ;  and  Lafayette,  upon  landing  near 
Georgetown,  South  Carolina,  accompanied  by 
Baron  De  Kalb,  had  first  been  a  guest  of 
Major  Huger,  the  father  of  his  rescuer.  Dr. 
Bollmann's  visit  to  Vienna,  where  he  remained 
six  months,  lulling  suspicion  by  pretending  to 
study  or  practise  medicine ;  his  there  meeting 
with  young  Huger,  and  the  manner  in  which 
these  two  cautious,  though  daring,  men  mutu 
ally  discovered  to  each  other  their  similarity 
of  object;  the  code  of  signals  which  they 
gradually  established  with  the  prisoner,  and 
his  final  rescue  for  some  brief  hours  from  cap 
tivity  by  their  exertions,  together  with  his 
re-arrest  and  the  capture  and  terrible  punish 
ment  inflicted  on  his  rescuers — all  these 
points  Mr.  Davis  recited  with  a  vividness 
which  made  each  feature  in  the  successive 
scenes  pass  before  the  mental  eye  as  though 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  263 

in  the  unrolling  of  a  panorama.  Huger  and 
Bollmann  were  heavily  ironed  round  the  neck, 
and  chained  to  the  floors  of  separate  dun 
geons,  in  utter  darkness.  Once  every  half 
hour  the  Austrian  Officer  of  the  Day  entered, 
flashed  a  dark  lantern  into  their  faces  to  identi 
fy  them  and  see  that  they  still  lived,  and  then 
carefully  examined  every  link  of  the  chains 
binding  their  necks  to  the  floor  and  shackling 
their  feet  and  wrists.  This  treatment  lasted, 
night  and  day,  for  six  months,  the  prisoners 
being  almost  skeletons  when  finally  obtaining 
their  release,  which  was  secured  by  the  repre 
sentations  of  General  Washington,  the  power 
ful  advocacy  of  Mr.  Fox  and  the  Liberals  in 
the  British  Parliament,  and  the  humane  sym 
pathy  of  the  Count  Metrouskie,  who  wielded 
a  powerful  influence  in  the  Austrian  court. 
Lafayette,  however,  even  in  his  second  impri 
sonment,  was  never  shackled ;  and  though 
treated  with  the  utmost  cruelty,  no  indignities 
were  offered  to  his  person,  save  that  he  was 
robbed  of  his  watch  and  some  other  trinkets 
on  being  recommitted,  reduced  to  a  single 


264  The  Prison  Life 

suit  of  clothes,  and  stripped  of  every  little 
comfort  that  had  been  previously  allowed  him, 
save  such  occasional  betterments  of  food — his 
regulation  diet  being  bread  and  water — as 
were  certified  by  his  medical  attendant  to  be 
necessary  for  the  support  of  life. 

It  may  be  here  remarked,  that  the  power 
of  memory  possessed  by  Mr.  Davis  appeared 
almost  miraculous — a  single  perusal  of  any 
passage  that  interested  either  his  assent  or 
denial  enabling  him  to  repeat  it  almost  verba 
tim,  when  eulogizing  its  logic  or  combating 
what  he  considered  its  errors.  This  wonder 
ful  gift  of  memorizing,  and  apparent  univer 
sality  of  knowledge,  were  remarked  by  every 
Officer  of  the  Day  as  well  as  myself,  Mr. 
Davis  having  kindly  relations  with  all,  and 
conversation  suited  to  each  visitor.  As  in 
stances  of  this — at  which  I  was  not  present 
myself,  but  heard  related  from  the  officers 
immediately  after  their  occurrence — let  me 
mention  two  conversations. 

An  Officer  of  the  Day,  very  fond  of  dogs, 
and  believing  himself  well  posted  in  all  vari- 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  265 

eties  of  that  animal,  once  entered  the  prison 
er's  cell,  followed  by  a  bull-terrier  or  some 
other  breed  of  belligerent  canine.  Mr.  Davis 
at  once  commenced  examining  and  criticising 
the  dog's  points  with  all  the  minuteness  of  a 
master,  thence  gliding  into  a  general  review 
of  the  whole  race  of  pointers,  setters,  and  re 
trievers  ;  terriers,  bull-dogs,  German  poodles, 
greyhounds,  blood-hounds,  and  so  forth ;  the 
result  of  his  conversation  being  best  given  in 
the  words  of  the  dog-fancying  officer :  "  Well, 
I  thought  I  knew  something  about  dogs,  but 
hang  me  if  I  won't  get  appointed  Officer  of 
the  Day  as  often  as  I  can,  and  go  to  school 
with  Jeff.  Davis."  On  another  occasion 
"  some  lewd  fellows  of  the  baser  sort "  in  the 
garrison  had  been  fighting  a  main  of  cocks ; 
the  Lieutenant  of  the  Guard  in  the  outer  room 
being  the  proud  possessor  of  the  victorious 
chanticleer.  It  thus  came  to  pass  that  the 
conquering  bird,  with  dripping  plumage,  was 
brought  under  the  prisoner's  notice,  and  again 
the  same  scene  as  with  the  dog-fancier  was  re 
peated  in  regard  to  game-cocks  and  fighting- 


12 


266  The  Prison  Life 

birds  of  all  varieties — Mr.  Davis  describing 
the  popularity  of  the  sport  in  Mexico,  and 
adding,  that  when  a  boy  in  Mississippi,  he 
had  seen  only  too  much  of  it,  until  found 
out  and  forbidden  by  his  parents. 

On  quitting  Mr.  Davis  this  day,  and  in 
compliance  with  the  order  of  Major-General 
Miles,  I  transmitted  to  headquarters  the  fol 
lowing  report : 

Office  of  the  Chief  Medical  Officer, 
FORT  MONROE,  VA.,  September  i,  1863. 

BREVET  MAJOR-GENERAL  N.  A.  MILES, 

Commanding  Military  District, 

Fort  Monroe,  Va. 

GENERAL: — I  have  the  honor  to  report 
prisoner  Davis  still  suffering  from  the  effects 
of  a  carbuncle.  The  erysipelas  of  the  face 
had  entirely  subsided,  but  yesterday  reap 
peared.  His  health  is  evidently  rapidly  de 
clining. 

I  remain,  General,  very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

JOHN  J.  CRAVEN, 

Bv't  Lieut.-Col.  U.  S.  Vol's,  and  C.  M.  O., 

Military  District,  Fort  Monroe,  Va. 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  267 

September  20*. — Visited  prisoner  early,  ac 
companied  by  Captain  Sanderson,  3d  Penn 
sylvania  Artillery,  Officer  of  the  Day.  Con 
dition  of  Mr.  Davis  may  be  seen  in  the  two 
following  reports,  the  first  being  the  ordinary 
one  addressed  to  Major-General  Miles,  accom 
panied  by  a  verbal  recommendation  (often 
previously  made),  for  a  change  of  quarters. 
The  second,  a  fuller  report,  covering  the  same 
point,  in  official  form,  intended  to  be  trans 
mitted  by  General  Miles  to  the  authorities  at 
Washington.  The  routine  report  merely  ran : 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  report  prisoner  Davis's 
condition  not  perceivably  different  from  that 
of  yesterday :  very  feeble ;  no  appetite." 

The  second  report,  of  same  date,  intended 
for  transmission  to  the  War  Department,  ran 
as  follows : 

Office  of  the  Chief  Medital  Officer, 
FORT  MONROE,  VA.,  September  2,  1865. 

BREVET  MAJOR-GENERAL  N.  A.  MILES, 
Commanding  Military  District, 

Fort  Monroe,  Va. 
GENERAL  • — I  have  the  honor  to  report  that 


268  The  Prison  Life 

I  was  called  to  see  prisoner  Davis  on  the  24th 
day  of  May  last.  I  found  him  very  feeble  ; 
prematurely  old;  all  the  evidence  of  an  iron 
will,  but  extremely  reduced  in  physical  struc 
ture.  As  he  continued  to  fail,  changes  were 
suggested  in  his  prison  life,  and  kindly  granted  ; 
his  food  was  changed  from  prison  food  to  a 
liberal  diet;  the  guards  and  light  were  removed 
from  his  room ;  he  was  permitted  to  walk  in 
the  open  air,  and  to  have  miscellaneous  read 
ing.  Indeed,  everything  was  done  for  him  to 
render  him  comfortable  as  a  prisoner. 

Within  the  last  week,  I  have  noticed  a  great 
change  in  the  prisoner.  He  has  become  de 
spondent  and  dull,  a  very  unnatural  condition 
for  him.  He  is  evidently  breaking  down. 
Save  a  small  patch  of  erysipelas  upon  his  face, 
and  a  carbuncle  upon  one  of  his  limbs,  no 
pointed  disease,  but  general  prostration. 

I  am  of  opinion  that  it  may  be  in  a  mea 
sure  attributed  to  the  dampness  of  his  room, 
for  I  have  noticed  lately  a  great  change  in  the 
atmosphere  of  the  casemates,  and  would  re 
spectfully  recommend  that  he  be  removed 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  269 

irom  the  room  he  now  occupies  to  some  other 
apartment.  I  have  no  other  suggestions  to 
make  as  to  his  treatment.  He  has  the  best 
of  food  and  stimulants. 

I  remain,  General,  very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 
(Signed)  JOHN  J.  CRAVEN, 

Bv't  Lieut-Col,  and  Surg.  U.  S.  Vol's  and  C.  M.  O., 
Military  District,  Fort  Monroe,  Va. 

On  this  occasion,  Mr.  Davis  referred  to 
some  remark  of  Miss  Anna  Dickenson,  hos 
tile  to  himself,  which  he  had  seen  in  the  pa 
pers  ;  also  recalling  that  he  had  heard  of  the 
lady's  honoring  Fort  Monroe  with  her  pres 
ence  some  six  weeks  before — he  supposed  to 
derive  her  inspiration  from  an  actual  view  of 
his  casemate,  or  possibly  to  catch  a  secret 
view  of  him  through  the  admiring  favor  of 
Gen.  Miles  or  some  smitten  officer.  He  had 
noticed  that  Miss  Dickenson  had  figured 
largely  upon  the  lecturing  stage,  and  had  un 
deniable  talent,  but  the  talent  rather  of  a 
Maenad  or  Pythoness  than  most  of  the  mild 
virgins  who  worshipped  Vesta  and  kept  the 


270  The  Prison  Life 

fires  of  faith  and  charity  forever  burning  on 
her  pure,  altars.  Woman's  appearance  in  the 
political  arena  was  a  deplorable  departure 
from  the  golden  path  which  nature  had 
marked  out  for  her.  The  male  animal  was 
endowed  with  more  than  sufficient  belligeren 
cy  for  all  purposes  of  healthy  agitation ;  and 
woman's  part  in  the  social  economy,  as  she 
had  been  made  beautiful  and  gentle,  should 
be  to  soothe  asperities,  rather  than  deepen 
and  make  more  rough  the  cross-tracks  plowed 
in  the  road  of  life  by  the  diverging  passions 
and  opinions  of  men.  It  was  a  revolutionary 
age  ;  transpositions  and  novelty  were  the  fan 
cies  of  the  day,  and  woman  on  the  political 
rostrum  was  only  an  outcropping  of  the  dis 
organized  and  disorganizing  ideas  now  in  con 
trol  of  the  popular  mind.  The  clamor  of  cer 
tain  classes  of  women  for  admission  to  the 
professions  and  employments  heretofore  en 
grossed  by  men,  was  another  phase  of  the 
same  malady.  They  demanded  to  be  made 
self-supporting,  forgetful  that  their  most  ten 
der  charm  and  safest  armor  lay  in  helplessness. 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  271 

Woman's  office  embraced  all  the  sweetest  and 
holiest  duties  of  suffering  humanity.  Her 
true  altar  is  the  happy  fireside,  not  the  fo 
rum  with  its  foul  breath  and  distracting  clam 
ors.  Physically  unable  to  defend  themselves 
from  injury  or  insult,  their  weakness  is  a 
claim  which  the  man  must  be  utterly  base 
who  disregards.  The  highest  test  of  civili 
zation  is  the  deference  paid  to  women. 
They  are  like  the  beautiful  vines  of  the 
South,  winding  around  the  rugged  forest- 
trees  and  clothing  them  with  beauty ;  but  let 
them  attempt  living  apart  from  this  support 
and  they  will  soon  trail  along  the  ground  in 
muddy  and  trampled  impurity.  While  woman 
depends  on  man  for  everything,  man's  love 
accepts,  and  his  generosity  can  never  do 
enough  to  discharge  the  delicious  and  sacred 
obligations ;  but  let  woman  enter  into  the 
ruder  employments  of  life  as  man's  rival,  and 
she  passes  herself  as  a  slave  under  those  in 
exorable  laws  of  trade  which  are  without  sex 
or  sentiment  Perhaps  in  one  branch  of 
medicine  there  might  appear  a  fitness  in  her 


272  The  Prison  Life 

claim  to  matriculation ;  but  even  in  that 
branch,  circumstances  of  sudden  difficulty 
and  danger  were  of  every-day  occurrence,  re 
quiring  the  steadier  nerves,  cooler  judgment, 
and  quicker  action  of  a  medical  man  to  deal 
with.  If  asked  for  his  sublimest  ideal  of  what 
women  should  be  in  time  of  war,  he  would 
point  to  the  dear  women  of  his  people  as  he 
had  seen  them  during  the  recent  struggle. 
The  Spartan  mother  sent  forth  her  boy  bid 
ding  him  return  with  honor — either  carrying 
his  shield,  or  on  it.  The  women  of  the  South 
sent  forth  their  sons,  directing  them  to  return 
with  victory;  to  return  with  wounds  dis 
abling  them  from  further  service,  or  never 
to  return  at  all.  All  they  had  was  flung  into 
the  contest — beauty,  grace,  passion,  ornament ; 
the  exquisite  frivolities  so  dear  to  the  sex  were 
cast  aside ;  their  songs,  if  they  had  any  heart 
to  sing,  were  patriotic;  their  trinkets  were 
flung  into  the  public  crucible ;  the  carpets 
from  their  floors  were  portioned  out  as 
blankets  to  the  suffering  soldiers  of  their 
cause;  women  bred  to  every  refinement  of 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  273 

luxury  wore  home-spuns  made  by  their  own 
hands ;  when  materials  for  an  army-balloon 
were  wanted,  the  richest  silk  dresses  were  sent 
in,  and  there  was  only  competition  to  secure 
their  acceptance.  As  nurses  of  the  sick,  as 
encouragers  and  providers  for  the  combatants, 
as  angels  of  charity  and  mercy  adopting  as 
their  own  all  children  made  orphans  in  de 
fence  of  their  homes,  as  patient  and  beautiful 
household  deities,  accepting  every  sacrifice 
with  unconcern,  and  lightening  the  burdens 
of  war  by  every  art,  blandishment,  and  labor 
proper  to  their  sphere, — the  dear  women  of 
his  people  deserved  to  take  rank  with  the 
highest  heroines  of  the  grandest  days  of  the 
greatest  countries.  Talking  further  upon 
woman,  Mr.  Davis  stated  his  belief  that  when 
women  prove  unfaithful  to  their  marriage 
vows,  it  will  in  almost  every  instance  be  found 
the  husband's  fault.  Men  throw  their  wives, 
or  allow  them  to  be  thrown,  into  the  com 
panionship  of  male  associates  whom  they 
know  to  be  dissolute ;  neglect  them,  while 
the  illicit  lover  pays  every  attention,  and  then 

T2* 


274  The  Prison  Life 

grow  angry  at  the  result  of  their  own  criminal 
folly.  It  is  either  this,  or  that  the  man  has 
chosen,  without  sufficient  inquiry,  a  woman 
whose  unfitness  for  the  relations  of  wife  might 
have  been  readily  ascertained.  No  woman 
will  err  if  treated  properly  by  a  husband 
worthy  of  the  name ;  but  she  is  the  weaker 
vessel  and  must  be  protected. 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  275 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

Mr.  Davis  on  Sensation  News. —  The  Condi 
tion  of  the  Negro. — Gen.  Butler  at  Drurys 
Bluff. — Bishop  Lynch  and  the  Sisters  of 
Charity. — A  Story  after  the  manner  of 
President  Lincoln. 

SEPTEMBER  $d. — Called  upon  prisoner,  accom 
panied  by  Captain  Evans,  3d  Pennsylvania 
Artillery,  Officer  of  the  Day.  Had  passed  a 
comfortable  night,  the  erysipelas  again  reced 
ing,  and  the  carbuncle  commencing  to  slough 
out.  Reported  to  General  Miles :  "  Prisoner 
Davis  slightly  better  this  morning."  Still 
complained  of  the  unwholesome  atmosphere 
of  his  casemate,  pointing  to  some  crumbs 
of  bread  which  he  had  thrown  to  the  mouse 
only  a  day  or  two  before,  now  covered  with 
mould.  Made  no  reply  to  this,  not  knowing 


276  The  Prison  Life 

what  would  be  the  action  of  the  authorities  on 
my  recommendation,  though  hoping,  and, 
indeed,  fully  trusting  that  it  would  be  favor 
able. 

Mr.  Davis  referred  to  some  financial  frauds 
in  Wall  Street,  then  exciting  much  attention 
in  the  Northern  press,  remarking  that  these 
insanities  or  epidemics  of  financial  and  other 
kinds  of  crime  appeared  by  some  unknown 
law  to  follow  every  period  of  great  political 
excitement.  Perhaps  the  average  of  crime 
was  at  all  times  the  same  in  every  given 
population — as  many  eminent  statisticians 
had  maintained — the  apparent  increase  of 
viciousness  only  arising  from  the  fact  that 
during  the  greater  excitement,  whatever  that 
might  be,  we  could  spare  no  attention  to 
minor  matters,  and  now  they  struck  us 
with  a  sense  of  novelty.  The  Northern  press 
had  been  working  with  treble  power  and  at 
fever-heat  for  some  years,  and  would  require 
another  year  to  calm  back  into  ordinary 
journalism.  Sensationalism  was  the  neces 
sity  at  present,  and  offences  which  would 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  277 

have  been  dismissed  with  a  paragraph  in 
the  police  reports  four  or  five  years  ago, 
were  now  magnified  into  columns  or  a  page 
of  startling  capitals.  The  cruelty  of  dragging 
in  family  history  and  the  names  of  relatives 
Mr.  Davis  dwelt  upon,  speaking  with  great 
sympathy  of  a  venerable  father  whose  grey 
hairs,  heretofore  without  a  blemish,  were  now 
sprinkled  by  the  reports  in  Northern  papers 
with  the  mire  into  which  his  son  had  fallen. 
With  the  criminal,  and  all  his  conscious 
aiders  and  abettors,  the  law  and  public 
opinion  were  entitled  to  deal ;  but  when 
journalism  passed  beyond  this  limit,  and 
dragged  before  the  gaze  of  unpitying  millions 
the  lacerated  and  innocent  domestic  victims 
of  a  son's  or  husband's  crime,  the  act  was  so 
inhuman  that  to  term  it  brutal  would  be  to 
wrong  the  dumb  creation.  True,  in  tracing 
out  and  developing  a  crime,  we  had  often  to 
enter  upon  the  otherwise  sacred  privacy  of 
domestic  relations ;  and  if  anything  therein 
found  could  materially  forward  the  ends  of 
justice,  the  lesser  right  would  have  to  be 


278  The  Prison  Life 

sacrificed  to  the  greater.  But  the  practice 
of  dragging  before  the  public  the  whole 
history  of  a  criminal  in  his  non-criminal 
relations — his  wife  and  wife's  family,  his 
father  and  father's  family,  their  manner  of 
life,  circle  of  friends,  and  so  forth — deserved 
reprobation.  It  is  the  innocent  and  pure — 
and  always  in  the  exact  measure  of  their 
purity  and  innocence — who  most  suffer  from 
such  offences  as  the  one  he  was  noticing. 
To  the  guilty  man  himself,  unless  hardened 
beyond  reach  of  conscience,  or  dread  of 
shame,  the  explosion  which  consigns  him  to 
prison  must  be  a  positive  relief.  The  agony 
of  anxiety  is  over ;  pride  has  suffered  its 
benumbing  shock,  and  the  pain  of  its  former 
protest  is  paralysed.  In  the  solitude  of  his 
cell  he  is  at  peace,  or  in  the  companionship 
of  the  convict-yard  there  are  none  to  mock 
his  degradation.  Mr.  Davis  spoke  with  great 
feeling  on  this  matter,  mentioning  several 
cases  which  had  come  to  his  knowledge,  and 
in  particular  the  default  of  an  army  officer 
while  he  was  Secretary  of  War.  It  had  been 


°f  Jefferson  D&vis.  279 

a  most  painful  case,  for,  up  to  the  moment  of 
the  exploitation,  he  had  been  on  terms  of 
intimacy  with  the  defaulter's  family. 

Speaking  of  army  defaults,  Mr.  Davis  re 
marked  that  our  Government  seemed  to  have 
trouble  with  the  officers  appointed  to  take 
care  of  the  negroes.  The  better  plan  would 
be  to  remit  their  care  and  future  to  the  seve 
ral  States.  None  could  manage  the  black  for 
his  own  good  and  the  public  interest  so  well 
as  those  who  had  been  reared  with  them  and 
knew  their  peculiarities.  Once  free,  the  neces 
sities  of  labor  and  the  laws  of  supply  and 
demand  would  interfere  to  secure  justice  to 
the  black  laboring  class,  even  were  there  any 
disposition  to  deny  it,  which  he  did  not  be 
lieve.  Mr.  Davis  said,  judging  from  the  in 
evitable  logic  of  the  case  and  reports  reaching 
him  during  the  war,  that  the  class  of  civilians 
who  rushed  South  in  the  wake  of  our  armies, 
professing  intense  philanthropy  for  the  negro 
as  their  object,  were  about  the  most  unsafe 
class  to  whom  the  destinies  of  any  ignorant 
and  helpless  people,  out  of  whom  money  were 


280  The  Prison  Life 

to  be  made,  could  have  been  entrusted.  Men, 
the  most  pure  and  upright  in  previous  life, 
when  suddenly  given  control  of  wealth  for 
distribution  to  the  ignorant  and  helpless,  in 
too  many  cases,  if  not  the  majority,  will  gra 
vitate,  by  force  of  protracted  temptation,  into 
corruption.  He  instanced  the  dealings  of  the 
Department  of  the  Interior  with  the  Indians 
— a  hideous  history,  for  which  the  country 
should  blush,  though  not  a  little  of  the  pecu 
lations  and  extortions  practised  by  our  Indian 
Agents  against  the  various  tribes,  had  been 
placed  on  record.  Mr.  Davis  then  spoke  of 
the  various  Indian  nations  with  whom  he  had 
been  thrown  in  contact  during  his  earlier  life 
when  serving  in  the  army,  giving  the  habits 
and  leading  characteristics  of  each,  but  with 
a  rapidity  and  fluency  of  Indian  names  which 
(the  subject  being  new  to  me)  I  could  not 
follow.  The  general  spirit  of  his  remarks  was 
kind  to  the  Red  Man,  lamenting  his  wrongs, 
and  the  inevitable  obliteration  of  his  race  as 
a  sacrifice  under  the  Juggernaut  of  civiliza 
tion. 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  281 

Recurring  to  the  management  of  the  ne 
groes  by  professed  philanthropic  civilians  of 
the  North,  Mr.  Davis  said  that  all  the  best 
men  of  both  sections  were  in  the  armies,  and 
that  these  civilian  camp-followers  partook  in 
their  nature  of  the  buzzards  who  were  the 
camp-followers  of  the  air.  He  said  they  re 
minded  him  of  an  anecdote  told  in  Missis 
sippi  relative  to  a  professed  religionist  of 
very  avaricious  temper,  which  ran  as  fol 
lows  : 

Driving  to  church  one  Sunday,  the  pious 
old  gentleman  saw  a  sheep  foundered  in  a 
quagmire  on  one  side  of  the  road,  and  called 
John,  his  coachman,  to  halt  and  extricate  the 
animal — he  might  be  of  value.  John  halted, 
entered  the  quagmire,  endeavored  to  pull  out 
the  sheep ;  but  found  that  fright,  cold,  damp, 
and  exposure  had  so  sickened  the  poor  brute 
that  its  wool  came  out  in  fistfuls  whenever 
pulled.  With  this  dolorous  news  John  re 
turned  to  the  carriage. 

"  Indeed,  John.  Is  it  good  wool — valua 
ble  ? " 


282  The  Prison  Life 

"  Fust  class.  Right  smart  good,  Massa, 
Couldn't  be  better." 

"  It's  a  pity  to  lose  the  wool,  John.  You'd 
better  go  see  ;  is  it  loose  everywhere  ?  Per 
haps  his  sickness  only  makes  it  loose  in 
parts." 

John  returned  to  the  sheep,  pulled  all  the 
wool,  collected  it  in  his  arms,  and  returned  to 
the  carriage. 

"  It  be's  all  done  gone  off,  Massa.  Every 
hair  on  him  was  just  a  fallin'  when  I  picked 
'um  up." 

"  Well,  throw  it  in  here,  John,"  replied  the 
master,  lifting  up  the  curtain  of  his  wagon. 
"  Throw  it  in  here,  and  now  drive  to  church 
as  fast  as*  you  can ;  I'm  afraid  we  shall  be 
late." 

"  But  de  poor  sheep,  massa,"  pleaded  the 
sable  driver.  "  Shan't  dis  chile  go  fotch  him  ? " 

"  Oh,  never  mind  him,"  returned  the  phi 
lanthropist,  measuring  the  wool  with  his  eye. 
"  Even  if  you  dragged  him  out,  he  could 
never  recover,  and  his  flesh  would  be  good 
for  nothing  to  the  butchers." 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  283 

So  the  sheep,  stripped  of  his  only  covering, 
was  le*ft  to  die  in  the  swamp,  concluded  Mr. 
Davis ;  and  such  will  be  the  fate  of  the  poor 
negroes  entrusted  to  the  philanthropic  but 
avaricious  Pharisees  who  now  profess  to  hold 
them  in  special  care. 

I  remarked  that  this  story  reminded  me  of 
Mr.  Lincoln's  happy  way  of  arguing  his  own 
position,  while  not  appearing  to  argue  at  all. 

Mr.  Davis  said  he  had  heard  many  of  Mr. 
Lincoln's  stories,  or  stories  attributed  to  him, 
but  knew  not  how  much  to  believe.  When  a 
man  once  got  a  reputation  of  this  sort,  he  was 
given  credit  for  all  the  curious  stories  afloat ; 
nor  could  he  conceive  how  a  man  so  oppress 
ed  with  care  as  Mr.  Lincoln,  could  have  had 
any  relish  for  such  pleasantries.  Recurring 
to  the  subject  of  the  philanthropic  guardians 
of  the  negro,  he  asked  me,  if  ever  released 
from  duty  in  Fort  Monroe — which  he  as  sel 
fishly  hoped  would  not  be  until  he  also  was 
released,  either  by  order  of  man  or  the  sum 
mons  of  death — to  visit  New  England  and 
count  for  myself  how  many  doughty  talkers 


284  The  Prison  Life 

for  the  negro,  before  the  war,  had  worn  sword 
on  thigh  or  carried  musket  in  hand  during  its 
continuance  ?  For  the  agitators  of  the  South, 
as  they  were  called,  this  could  be  said :  that 
they  had  veritably  staked  life,  property,  and 
honor  in  support  of  their  ideas. 

Of  the  negro  race  Mr.  Davis  spoke  most 
kindly,  saying  that  the  irregularities  into  which 
they  had  been  betrayed,  arose  from  misinfor 
mation  spread  amongst  them  by  these  civilian 
philanthropists.  They  were  taught  that  the 
General  Government  was  about  transferring 
to  them  in  fee  the  estates  of  the  Southern 
whites,  thus  enabling  them  to  live  in  opulence 
and  idleness  (as  they  hoped)  through  all  future 
time.  Whatever  might  be  the  designs  of  the 
future,  this  had  not  yet  been  done ;  and  hence 
the  disappointment  of  the  negroes,  who  began 
to  regard  freedom  as  a  much  less  blessing  than 
they  at  first  supposed.  They  took  their  idea 
of  freedom  from  what  they  had  seen  of  their 
masters,  and  imagined  that  to  be  free — pure 
and  simple — implied  as  a  concomitant  all  the 
comforts  and  luxuries  which  they  had  seen 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  285 

their  masters  enjoying  under  the  old  system 
of  labor.  He  was  sorry  for  the  poor  negroes 
with  his  whole  heart.  The  future  might  pos 
sibly  better  their  condition — in  the  next  gene 
ration,  not  in  this;  but  to  him,  the  freed 
slaves  seemed  like  cage-bred  birds  enjoying 
their  first  hour  of  liberty,  but  certain  to  pay  a 
terrible  penalty  for  it  when  night  and  winter 
came,  and  they  knew  neither  where  to  find 
food  or  shelter. 

Mr.  Davis  said  that  we — himself  and  the 
writer — had  once,  from  my  account,  been  op 
posite  each  other  in  battle.  It  was  on  May 
the  1 6th,  1864,  at  the  engagement  which  we 
called  Drury's  Bluff,  but  not  properly  so,  the 
battle  having  its  central  point  at  the  house  of 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Friend,  and  both  its  wings  rest 
ing  on  Proctor's  Creek.  There  were  several 
lines  of  defence  between  that  battle-ground 
and  the  works  at  Drury's  Bluff.  Beauregard 
had  been  fooling  Butler  for  some  days  by 
skirmishing  and  falling  back,  in  order  to  draw 
Butler  on.  Davis  was  present  on  the  foggy 
morning  of  the  decisive  day — the  day  which 


286  The  Prison  Life 

rendered  Butler  permanently  powerless  for 
further  evil,  and  hoped  that  morning  to  cap 
ture  our  entire  army.  This  would  have  been 
done  if  General  Whiting  (I  think)  had  obeyed 
orders.  His  orders  were  to  flank  Butler,  while 
the  battle  was  going  on  in  front,  and  cut  him 
off  from  his  base  and  works  at  Bermuda  Hun 
dred.  This  might  easily  have  been  done,  but 
the  orders  miscarried  in  some  manner,  and 
General  Butler,  with  the  loth  and  i8th  Corps, 
forming  his  force,  escaped — though  Mr.  Davis 
heard  we  had  hardly  enough  shovels  in  our 
army  to  bury  the  dead.  General  Terry,  with 
the  loth  Corps,  had  been  allowed  to  carry  their 
exterior  line  of  rifle-pits.  Then,  Beauregard 
massed  his  forces,  charged  out  of  his  works, 
cut  the  1 8th  Corps  to  pieces,  and  very  badly 
crippled  the  loth. 

I  replied  that  I  remembered  all  the  inci 
dents  of  the  day  very  well,  having  been  nearly 
captured  by  some  of  his  cavalry  bushwhack 
ers  while  endeavoring  to  take  care  of  my 
wounded  near  Chester  Station,  on  the  rail 
road  from  Richmond  to  Petersburg.  Nothing 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  287 

but  letting  them  count  the  nails  in  the  hind- 
shoes  of  my  horse  had  saved  me.  Returned 
about  half  an  hour  after  that,  and  brought 
off  my  wounded  without  difficulty.  Then 
related  to  Mr.  Davis  the  incident  of 
General  Walker,  of  Beauregard's  staff, 
which  forms  the  introduction  to  this  vol 
ume. 

From  this  point  the  conversation  diverged 
to  the  treatment  of  our  wounded  by  the  Con 
federate  surgeons.  I  said  that  complaint  had 
been  made,  and  with  justice,  as  I  could  per 
sonally  certify  in  some  cases,  that  unnecessary 
amputations  had  been  performed  on  wounded 
Union  soldiers  falling  into  the  hands  of  Con 
federate  surgeons.  Mr.  Davis  said  this  was 
undeniable ;  but  not  more  so  with  our  men 
than  with  the  boys  of  his  own  people.  They 
had  been  obliged  to  accept  as  surgeons  in  the 
Southern  army  many  lads  who  had  only  half 
finished  their  education  in  Northern  colleges. 
Besides,  their  facilities  for  transporting  and 
taking  care  of  the  sick  were  greatly  deficient ; 
nor  had  they  had  proper  hospital  stores,  nor 


288  The  Prison  Life 

appliances  for  cure,  in  any  such  abundance 
as  with  us.  To  bunglers  in  the  art  of  sur 
gery,  or  men  too  hurried  for  scientific  treat 
ment,  amputation  is  always  a  readier  remedy 
than  the  slow  process  of  splints,  removing 
daily  dressings ;  and  all  he  would  claim  on 
behalf  of  his  surgeons  was,  that  they  had 
treated  all  the  wounded,  Confederate  or  Union, 
with  impartiality;  and  that  if  too  many  ampu 
tations  had  been  performed  on  the  one,  they 
had  likewise  been  performed  on  the  other. 
He  then  referred  to  the  courtesy  of  the  medi 
cal  profession  towards  each  other,  as  exhibit 
ed  when  surgeons  had  been  taken  prisoners. 
They  were  always  treated  on  his  side,  and 
so  far  as  he  knew  upon  our  side,  with  the  re 
spect  due  to  scientific  non-combatants,  whose 
business  was  the  healing,  not  the  wounding, 
art.  It  was  by  these  little  humanities  war 
endeavored  to  soften  the  natural  brutalities 
of  its  nature  to  the  educated  mind. 

Mentioned  to  Mr.  Davis  that  I  had  once 
had  a  very  interesting  day's  service  exchanging 
some  three  or  four  hundred  Confederates  for 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  289 

about  an  equal  number  of  our  own  wounded 
boys.  Brigadier-General  James  F.  Hall  had 
been  our  officer  of  exchange,  and  Surgeon 
Bontecue  my  associate.  We  steamed  up 
Charleston  Harbor  in  the  hospital-ship  Cosmo 
politan,  and  were  met  by  Bishop  Lynch  on 
a  vessel  carrying  our  wounded.  The  Bishop 
had  been  extremely  kind,  receiving  the  bless 
ings  of  our  boys,  who  spoke  in  warm  terms  of 
his  Christian  humanity.  So  far  as  I  could 
judge  from  that  specimen,  our  wounded  had 
not  anything  to  complain  of  in  their  treat 
ment — at  least  nothing  which  the  necessities 
of  their  situation  rendered  avoidable.  To  this 
Mr.  Davis  replied  in  warm  eulogy  of  Bishop 
Lynch,  as  also  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  not 
one  of  whom  he  could  ever  pass  without 
raising  his  hat — an  act  of  involuntary  rever 
ence.  They  had  indeed  been  the  silent 
angels  of  the  war,  carrying  comfort  and  re 
ligious  faith  to  every  couch  of  suffering.  Of 
what  they  had  done,  history  might  make  no 
mention ;  but  it  would  remain  for  ever  en 
graven  upon  the  hearts  of  the  tens  of  thou- 

13 


2 go  The  Prison  Life 

sands  they  had  helped  and  comforted.  Em 
blems  of  purity  and  mercy,  no  lives  in  the 
whole  world  could  be  more  beautiful  than 
theirs.  Their  hymns  were  an  undertone  or 
diapason  of  sacred  melody  through  all  the 
crash  of  arms  and  the  harrowing  chorus  of 
groans.  If  it  had  been  possible  in  his  estima 
tion  to  elevate  the  respect  for  woman,  the  con 
duct  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity  would  have 
done  so.  Meeting  Bishop  Lynch  casually 
one  day,  he  asked  him  in  the  usual  common 
place  how  the  world  went  with  him.  Never 
should  he  forget — for  it  was  but  an  echo  from 
his  own  soul — the  tone  in  which  the  Bishop 
replied,  "  This  war,  Mr.  Davis ;  this  war.  I 
am  heart-sick,  heart-sick,  heart-sick !  " 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  291 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

Treason. — State  and  National. — The  Fish- 
Hawk  and  Bald-Eagle. — Mr.  Davis  on  Sen 
ator  Benton,  Ex-President  Buchanan,  and 
President  Andrew  Johnson. — Preparations 
to  remove  Mr.  Davis  to  Carroll  Hall. 

SEPTEMBER  6tk. — Called  upon  Mr.  Davis  once 
or  twice,  I  remember,  between  the  interval  of 
my  last  date  and  this,  but  have  lost  notes. 
Called  to-day,  accompanied  by  Captain  Tit- 
low,  3d  Pennsylvania  Artillery,  Officer  of  the 
Day,  and  found  prisoner  in  a  more  comforta 
ble  state  of  mind  and  body  than  he  had  en 
joyed  for  some  days.  Healthy  granulations 
forming  in  the  carbuncle. 
»  Mr.  Davis  said  the  clamor  about  "  treason  " 
in  our  Northern  newspapers  was  only  an  evi 
dence  how  little  our  editors  were  qualified  by 
education  for  their  positions.  None  seemed 


292  The  Prison  Life 

to  remember  that  treason  to  a  State  was  pos 
sible,  no  less  than  to  the  United  States;  and 
between  the  horns  of  this  dilemma  there  could 
be  little  choice.  In  the  North,  where  the  doc 
trine  of  State  sovereignty  was  little  preached 
or  practised,  this  difficulty  might  not  seem  so 
great ;  but  in  the  South  a  man  had  presented 
the  unpleasant  alternatives  of  being  guilty  of 
treason  to  his  State  when  it  went  out  of  the 
Union,  by  remaining,  what  was  called  "  loyal  " 
to  the  Federal  Government,  or  being  guilty 
v)f  treason  to  the  General  Government  by  re 
maining  faithful  to  his  State.  These  terms 
appeared  to  have  little  significance  at  the 
North,  but  were  full  of  potency  in  the  South, 
and  had  to  be  regarded  in  every  political  cal 
culation. 

Mr.  Davis  said  he  had  been  much  inter 
ested  all  the  morning  watching  from  the  grat 
ed  embrasure,  near  which  his  bed  lay,  the  free 
flight  of  fish-hawks,  so  plentiful  during  the 
summer  in  Hampton  Roads,  and  some  of 
which  still  lingered.  The  bird  was  a  sacred 
guest,  visiting  the  coast  on  particular  days  in 


of  Jefferson  Davis  293 

every  season,  and  carrying  with  its  appearance 
the  glad  tidings  to  so  many  fishermen  that 
the  shoals  of  shad,  alewives — mossbunkers  he 
believed  we  called  them  in  the  North — and 
blue-fish,  were  upon  the  coast.  The  fish- 
hawk  or  osprey  was  associated  with  the 
bald-headed  eagle  in  such  intimate  relations, 
that  to  describe  the  habits  of  the  one,  neces 
sitated  some  description  of  the  habits  of  the 
other. 

The  osprey  or  fish-hawk  visited  the  coast 
in  early  spring,  on  the  same  day  that  the  fish 
he  had  named  made  their  appearance.  It 
built  its  nest  in  some  dead  tree  standing  near 
a  barn  or  house,  long  experience  having 
assured  it  that  it  ran  no  danger  from  man. 
Its  food  was  upon  the  deep ;  and  from  the 
farm  it  dwelt  upon,  the  osprey  took  nothing 
but  the  support  of  a  single  decaying  tree. 
Here  it  huddled  together  in  the  forks  nearest 
the  ground,  a  couple  of  cart-loads  of  twigs 
and  branches  to  form  its  nest — sticks  varying 
in  thickness  from  a  man's  little  finger  to  that 
of  a  cart-rung.  On  these  were  laid  coatings 


294  The  Prison  Life 

of  meadow-grass,  and  finally  the  feathers  from 
its  own  breast,  and  so  the  nest  was  made  and 
in  it  the  eggs  deposited.  From  this  perch 
the  fish-hawk  mother  kept  a  wary  eye  upon 
the  waters,  its  male  being  close  at  hand,  either 
to  bring  it  food  or  protect  the  eggs  or  young 
during  its  absence.  At  the  first  ripple,  be 
tokening  a  shoal  of  fish  in  the  distance,  away 
sailed  the  male  or  female  parent,  poising  over 
the  surface  of  the  waters  on  balanced  wing 
until  the  fish — who  had  seen  its  shadow  com 
ing  and  struck  for  the  bottom — should  reap 
pear.  Then  it  folded  its  wings  and  dropped 
down  like  a  bullet,  reemerging  presently  with 
a  shad,  or  blue-fish,  or  alewife,  varying  in 
weight  from  half  a  pound  to  four  pounds, 
clutched  firmly  in  its  talons — the  head  of  the 
fish  being  always  directly  under  its  own  head, 
which  was  not  idle  in  picking  out  the  eyes. 
Thus  it  sailed  along  the  water  for  half  a  dozen 
yards  until  the  grasp  of  its  talons  was  made 
more  secure ;  then  suddenly  rose  on  perpen 
dicular  wing  in  the  air  and  struck  off  for  its 
nest  near  the  barn-yard. 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  295 

But  theie  is  another  bird  on  the  coast, 
added  Mr.  Davis,  for  whom  these  fishing 
operations  have  much  interest.  It  is  the  bald 
eagle,  who  builds  on  some  crag,  if  there  be 
any  crag  within  vision  of  the  sea ;  and  if  not, 
in  the  tallest  tree  that  he  can  find,  and  farthest 
from  the  haunts  of  men.  As  he  sees  the 
fish-hawk  sail  forth,  the  eagle  rivets  his  far- 
piercing  eyes  on  the  bird's  motions.  Then, 
as  the  osprey  rises  with  his  prey,  the  eagle 
shakes  out  the  broad  vans  of  his  wings,  looks 

at  them  to  see  that  every  feather  is  in  place, 

^<% 

and  sullenly  swoops  upward  into  the  air  with 
the  assurance  of  a  conqueror.  There  is  a 
wild  scream  from  the  osprey  as  it  endeavors 
to  rise  higher,  not  satisfied  as  yet  but  some 
other  fish-hawk  with  its  prize  may  be  the 
eagle's  quarry.  A  few  moments  more  and 
the  hunt  is  certain ;  the  fish-hawk  drops  its 
prey,  and  flies  out  to  sea  with  redoubled 
screams,  while  the  grave  eagle  rapidly  de 
scends  with  unblinking  eyelids  upon  the  prize 
that  has  been  dropped  for  his  morning  or 
noon  repast,  often  seizing  it  before  it  strikes 


296  The  Prison  Life 

the  ground  or  water,  and  proceeds  to  make  a 
meal.  "  This  is  the  history  of  these  birds," 
concluded  Mr.  Davis,  "  and  I  have  watched 
them  with  the  most  lively  interest,  though 
the  circumscribed  view  from  my  inclosure 
gave  me  no  means  of  observing  more  than 
the  exploits  of  the  gulls  and  fish-hawks  in  the 
capture  of  their  prey." 

This  rule  of  prey  and  being  preyed  on, 
added  Mr.  Davis,  appeared  universal  through 
nature.  Up  to  the  regal  footstool -of  man,  no 
beast,  or  bird,  or  fish,  could  be  pointed  out 
which  did  not  prey  on  some  minor  creation 
of  the  animal  or  vegetable  world,  and  was  not 
preyed  on  in  turn.  Even  with  man,  the 
stronger  by  nature  preyed  upon  and  absorbed 
the  weaker ;  and  this,  though  a  harsh  philo 
sophy,  was  the  sum  and  result  of  worldly^ 
experience.  The  terms  virtue  and  vice  were 
comparative,  not  absolute.  The  man  of 
natural  virtue  might  have  no  virtue  at  all. 
It  is  the  man  who  restrains  his  passions  when 
they  are  strongest,  who  is  entitled  to  wear  the 
crown.  Mr.  Davis  then  quoted,  though  rarely 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  297 

quoting   poetry,  the  well  known  lines    from 
Burns : — 

Who  knows  the  heart — it's  he  alone, 

Decidedly  can  try  us  ; 
He  knows  each  chord — its  various  tone, 

Each  spring,  its  various  bias ; 
Then  at  the  balance  let's  be  mute, 

We  never  can  adjust  it — 
What's  done  we  partly  may  compute, 

But  know  not  what  resisted. 

A  remark,  that  I  hoped  to  see  him  soon 
resuming  his  walks  on  the  ramparts,  and  read 
ing  less  continually  in  a  recumbent  posture, 
called  out  several  anecdotes  from  Mr.  Davis 
relative  to  Senator  Benton  of  Missouri,  who 
was,  he  said,  an  incessant  student,  never  quit 
ting  his  room  except  in  necessity,  but  taking 
all  the  exercise  he  thought  needful  with  dumb 
bells  and  calisthenic  exercises  of  his  own 
choice.  Senator  Benton  had  one  peuliarity 
very  amusing  to  those  who  knew  him,  his 
desire  to  contradict  and  make  a  case  against 
such  of  his  associates  as  were  about  speaking 

on  some    point  peculiarly  within   their  own 

13* 


298  The  Prison  Life* 

province  of  practical  observation  or  education. 
Thus,  if  a  Senator  from  California  gave  notice 
that  on  such  a  day  he  would  introduce  a  reso 
lution  relative  to  gold-mining,  or  the  Senator 
from  Massachusetts  gave  similar  notice  rela 
tive  to  the  fisheries,  Mr.  Benton  would  imme 
diately  bury  himself  in  his  library  and  com 
mence  coaching  up,  or  "  cramming,"  as  it  was 
called  in  college,  for  the  forthcoming  debate. 
He  would  read  all  varieties  of  books  on  the 
subject,  arm  himself  with  the  most  minute 
and  comprehensive  statistics,  and  thus  in 
tellectually  equipped,  take  the  field  against 
whatever  view  the  Senator  who  had  given 
notice  of  the  motion  might  advance.  The 
result  would  be  that  a  few  home-thrusts  from 
the  lance  of  practical  experience  would  bar 
all  the  delicate  theories  of  Mr.  Benton's 
authorities  to  shreds  ;  but  these  debates  were 
useful  as  giving  the  Senate  a  sketch  of  the 
two  sides  which  every  question  has — that  of 
theory  and  fact. 

As  Mr.  Davis  was  speaking  of  the  Senate, 
asked  him  his  opinion  of  President  Johnson 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  299 

to  which  for  some  moments  he  made  no 
reply,  apparently  hesitating  whether  to  speak 
on  the  subject  or  not.  At  length  he  said,  that 
of  President  Johnson  he  knew  no  more  than 
the  papers  told  every  one ;  but  that  of  Mr. 
Johnson,  when  in  the  Senate,  he  would  as 
freely  speak  as  of  any  other  member.  There 
were,  of  course,  differences  between  them, 
more  especially  just  previous  to  the  retire 
ment  of  the  Southern  representatives  from 
Congress.  The  position  of  Mr.  Johnson  with 
his  associates  of  the  South  had  never  been 
pleasant,  not  from  any  fault  or  supercilious 
ness  on  their  side,  but  solely  due  to  the  in 
tense,  almost  morbidly  sensitive,  pride  of  Mr. 
Johnson.  Sitting  with  associates,  many  of 
whom  he  knew  pretended  to  aristocracy,  Mr. 
Johnson  seemed  to  set  up  before  his  own 
mind,  and  keep  ever  present  with  him,  his 
democratic  or  plebeian  origin  as  a  bar  to 
warm  social  relations.  This  pride — for  it  was 
the  pride  of  having  no  pride — his  associates 
long  struggled  to  overcome,  but  without  suc 
cess.  They  respected  Mr.  Johnson's  abili- 


300  The  Prison  Life 

ties,  integrity,  and  greatly  original  force 
of  character ;  but  nothing  could  make  him 
be,  or  seem  to  wish  to  feel  at  home  in 
their  society.  Some  casual  word  dropped  in 
debate,  though  uttered  without  a  thought 
of  his  existence,  would  seem  to  wound  him  to 
the  quick,  and  again  he  would  shrink  back 
into  the  self-imposed  isolation  of  his  earlier 
and  humbler  life,  as  if  to  gain  strength  from 
touching  his  mother  earth.  In  a  word,  while 
other  members  of  the  Senate  were  Democrats 
in  theory  or  as  their  political  faith,  Mr.  John 
son  was  a  Democrat  of  pride,  conviction,  and 
self-assertion — a  man  of  the  people,  who  not 
only  desired  no  higher  grade  of  classification, 
but  could  not  be  forced  into  its  acceptance  or 
retention  when  friendly  efforts  were  made  to 
that  end.  He  was  an  immense  worker  and 
student,  but  always  in  the  practicalities  of  life  ; 
little  in  the  graces  of  literature.  His  habits 
were  marked  by  temperance,  industry,  courage 
and  unswerving  perseverance ;  also,  by  invete 
rate  prejudices  or  preconceptions  on  certain 
points,  and  these  no  arguments  could  shake. 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  301 

His  faith  in  the  judgment  of  the  people  was 
unlimited,  and  to  their  decision  he  was  always 
ready  to  submit.  One  of  the  people  by  birth, 
he  remained  so  by  conviction,  continually  re 
curring  to  his  origin,  though  he  was  by  no 
means  the  only  Senator  of  the  South  in  like 
circumstances.  Mr.  Davis  mentioned  Aaron 
V.  Brown,  of  Mississippi,  who  had  been  Post 
master-General  under  President  Buchanan 
and  several  others,  who  were  of  like  Demo 
cratic  education  with  Mr.  Johnson,  but  who 
seemed  to  forget,  and  in  regard  to  whom  it 
was  forgotten  by  their  associates,  that  they 
had  ever  held  less  social  rank  than  that  to 
which  their  talents  and  industry  had  raised 
them.  Of  Mr.  Johnson's  character  justice 
was  an  eminent  feature,  though  not  uncoupled 
— as  true  justice  rarely  fails  to  be — with  kind 
liness  and  generosity.  He  was  eminently 
faithful  to  his  word,  and  possessed  a  courage 
which  took  the  form  of  angry  resistance  if 
urged  to  do,  or  not  do,  anything  which  might 
clash  with  his  convictions  of  duty.  He  was 
indifferent  to  money  and  careless  of  praise  or 


302  The  Prison  Life 

censure  when  satisfied  of  the  necessity  of  any 
line  of  action.  But  for  his  decided  attitude 
against  secession,  he  would  probably  have 
been  given  the  place  of  Mr.  Stephens  on  the 
Presidential  ticket  of  the  Confederacy.  Mr. 
Stephens,  indeed,  held  the  same  attitude  up 
to  the  last  moment ;  but  on  the  secession  of 
his  State,  had  two  alternatives  of  State  or 
Federal  "  treason,"  as  it  was  called,  presented, 
and  chose  the  latter. 

Mr.  Davis  remarked  that  Mr.  Buchanan 
more  fulfilled  the  European  ideal  of  a  Chief-of- 
State  in  his  social  relations  than  any  Ameri 
can  since  Washington.  He  was  dignified, 
polished,  reticent,  and  suave ;  fond  of  lady- 
gossip  and  the  atmosphere  of  intrigue ;  a 
stickler  for  the  ceremony  of  power.  His  mis 
fortune  was,  as  regarded  his  reputation  North, 
that  he  could  not  forget  in  a  month,  and  at 
the  dictation  of  a  party  only  representing  the 
majority  of  one  section,  all  those  principles 
which  had  been  imbibed  in  his  youth  and 
formed  the  guiding-stars  of  his  career  through 
over  fifty  years  of  public  service.  Of  Mr 


°f  Jefferson  Davis.  303 

Gushing,  of  Massachusetts,  Mr.  Davis  spoke 
in  terms  of  praise,  eulogizing  his  general 
talents,  and  more  especially  his  soundness  as 
an  exponent  of  Constitutional  law.  He  also 
referred  to  Mr.  George  M.  Dallas  as  his  model 
for  the  externals  of  a  diplomatic  representa 
tive,  quoting  something  he  had  once  known 
Mr.  Cobden,  of  England,  to  say  or  write ;  in 
substance,  that  Dallas  reminded  him  of  some 
stately  courtier-portrait  in  an  old  picture-gal 
lery,  suddenly  clothing  itself  with  flesh  and 
stepping  down  from  the  wall  to  again  pace 
with  living  men,  while  preserving  all  the  pas 
sionless  immobility  of  its  pictorial  experience. 
After  quitting  prisoner,  proceeded,  by  invi 
tation  of  General  Miles,  and  in  company  with 
that  officer,  to  make  an  inspection  of  the  fort, 
for  the  purpose  of  selecting  more  healthful 
quarters  for  the  State  prisoner.  Decided 
that  rooms  in  second  story  of  the  south  end 
of  Carroll  Hall  would  best  suit — a  building 
long  used  as  officers'  quarters,  near  the  main 
sally-port,  and  in  which  nearly  every  officer 
of  the  old  army  was  for  some  months  quar- 


304  The  Prison  Life 

tered  after  quitting  West  Point,  and  before 
being  assigned  to  general  duty  elsewhere. 
It  is  a  tradition  in  and  around  Old  Point 
Comfort,  that  both  Grant  and  Sherman  occu 
pied  in  their  day  the  very  chambers  selected 

for   the  second    incarceration  of  Mr.   Davis. 

« 

As  with  the  casemate,  there  were  to  be  two 
rooms  used  for  the  prisoner's  confinement. 
In  the  outer  one  a  lieutenant  and  two  soldiers 
were  constantly  stationed  on  guard,  having  a 
view  of  the  interior  chamber  through  a  grated 
door.  Opposite  this  door  was  a  fireplace. 
To  its  right,  when  facing  the  door,  a  window 
heavily  grated,  and  with  a  sentinel  continually 
on  duty  before  it,  pacing  up  and  down  the 
piazza.  Opposite  the  window  a  door  leading 
into  the  corridor,  but  permanently  fastened 
with  heavy  iron  clamps,  and  in  this  door  a 
sliding-panel  in  which  the  face  of  a  sentinel 
was  continually  framed  by  night  and  day,  ready 
to  report  to  his  officer  the  first  sign  of  any 
attempt  on  the  prisoner's  part  to  shuffle  off 
this  mortal  coil  by  any  act  of  self-violence. 
It  was  of  this  face,  with  its  unblinking  eyes, 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  305 

that  Mr.  Davis  so  bitterly  complained  in  after 
days;  but  this  is  anticipating.  The  prisoner, 
as  was  said  of  Lafayette,  is  perhaps  "  not  sick 
enough  yet,"  and  has  to  suffer  some  further 
weeks  of  exposure  in  his  present  casemate. 

The  rooms  being  selected,  General  Miles 
gave  orders  to  the  Engineer  Department  for 
their  speedy  conversion  from  quarters  to  a 
prison,  the  piazza  being  prolongated  and 
raised  by  a  flight  of  stairs,  so  that  access 
to  the  ramparts  could  be  had  by  Mr.  Davis 
without  a  descent  to  the  ground-tier,  which 
invariably  caused  a  crowd  to  collect,  with  its 
usual  unpleasant  attendants  of  staring  and 
whispering  commentaries. 

September  *]th. — Called  on  Mr.  Davis,  accom 
panied  by  Captain  Corlis,  aide-de-camp  to 
General  Miles,  Officer  of  the  Day.  Found 
the  health  of  prisoner  not  differing  from  the 
preceding  day,  and  so  reported  to  the  General 
commanding  in  the  bulletin  required  of  me 
at  this  time. 

Told  Mr.  Davis,  thinking  it  would  cheer 
him  and  help  to  soothe  his  nervousness,  that 


306  The  Prison  Life 

I  had  reason  to  hope  he  would  soon  be 
removed  to  more  comfortable  quarters.  Was 
sorry  for  this  afterwards,  as  the  protracted 
and  unforeseen  delays  in  his  removal  only 
made  him  more  painfully  fretful  in  regard  to 
the  poisonous  atmosphere  of  his  present 
casemate.  Had  only  a  brief  interview  with 
Mr.  Davis,  there  being  much  sickness  in  the 
fort  then,  and  many  demands  upon  my  time. 
Mentioned  that  I  thought  in  a  few  days  of 
paying  Richmond  a  visit ;  General  Alfred  H. 
Terry,  my  old  commander  in  the  roth  Army 
Corps,  having  now  his  headquarters  at  that 
place.  I  had  spent  many  days  in  front  of 
the  city  as  Chief  Medical  Officer  of  the  loth 
Corps,  and  Acting  Medical  Director  of  the 
Army  of  the  James ;  had  once  caught  a 
glimpse  of  the  promised  land  from  the  Pisgah 
of  a  battery  on  the  south-east,  and  about  four 
miles  removed,  but  had  not  then  been  per 
mitted  to  enter.  Mr.  Davis  pleasantly  replied 
that  if  Richmond  were  my  land  of  promise, 
the  Caleb  and  Joshua  visiting  it  would 
carry  back  but  slender  bunches  of  grapes. 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  307 

His  people  had  suffered  terrible  privations, 
but  with  the  seventies  and  necessities  of  war 
removed,  he  hoped  they  would  now  be  better 
supplied. 


308  The  Prison  Life 


CHAPTER  XX. 

Visit  to  Richmond. — General  Lee. — Mr.  Davis 
on  Horseback  Exercise. — Macaulays  Picto 
rial  Power. 

SEPTEMBER  nth. —  Called  on  Mr.  Davis,  ac 
companied  by  Capt.  Bickly,  3d  Pennsylvania 
Artillery,  Officer  of  the  Day.  Found  him 
convalescent  in  all  respects,  able  to  walk  on 
the  ramparts  and  in  good  spirits,  considering 
his  situation.  Told  him,  as  he  was  well,  I 
was  about  starting  that  day  for  Richmond,  to 
be  gone  about  a  week,  and  would  be  happy  to 
carry  any  social  messages  he  might  wish  to 
send  any  friends  in  that  city.  Mr.  Davis 
asked  me  to  call  upon  his  former  pastor,  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Minnegerode,  Rector  of  St.  Paul's ; 
also  upon  other  friends,  giving  me  their 
names,  who  would  be  glad  to  receive  me.  He 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  309 

requested  me  to  make  his  afflictions  in  prison 
appear  as  light  as  possible,  for  they  had  suffi 
cient  troubles  of  their  own  without  borrowing 
more  from  his  misfortunes.  He  also  said 
Richmond  had  been  a  very  beautiful  city  in 
the  days  gone  by ;  but  what  with  years  of  mili 
tary  operations  and  the  fire,  he  feared  its  ap 
pearance  must  now  be  sadly  altered.  "  Oh, 
the  anxious  moments  I  have  spent  in  that 
city !"  exclaimed  Mr.  Davis.  "  Cares  that  none 
can  understand  who  have  not  been  called  to 
fill  the  first  positions  of  responsibility  in  revo 
lutionary  times.  What  hopes  and  fears,  tried 
by  enemies  without  and  murmurers  or  muti 
neers  within — though  of  the  latter  there  were 
comparatively  few.  Taking  all  they  suffered 
into  view,  my  dear  people  stood  firm  and 
upheld  my  hands  with  a  devotion  and  unani 
mity  for  which  I  can  never  be  too  grate 
ful.  God  bless  them,  one  and  all,  and 
grant  them  the  sustaining  influence  of  His 
grace!" 

Mr.   Davis  spoke   the   last   sentence   with 
great  fervor,  his  thin  hands  clasped,  and  tears 


310  The  Prison  Life 

brimming  up  in  his  eyes,  though  not  allowed 
to  run  over.  It  was  in  such  moments  that 
his  face,  though  not  handsome,  judged  by  any 
mere  artistic  standard,  became  very  striking 
and  noble  in  the  delicate  expression  of  its  in 
tellectual  power  and  fervor. 

Mr.  Davis  became  solicitous  for  removal 
from  his  casemate,  and  wished  to  know  when 
his  new  quarters  in  Carroll  Hall  would  be 
ready  ?  Would  he  be  likely  to  be  transferred 
there  before  my  return  ?  Told  him  I  hoped 
to  find  him  there  on  coming  back,  but  could 
give  no  definite  assurance — the  engineers 
having  to  make  some  alterations  in  the  rooms, 
and  possibly  some  authorizing  order  being 
required  from  Washington. 

To  question  of  Mr.  Davis,  replied  that  Mr. 
Clay  was  far  from  well,  extremely  nervous,  a 
prey  to  dyspepsia  and  want  of  sleep,  but  not 
in  any  immediate  danger.  Clay  was  my  com 
plaining  patient,  but  Mr.  Mitchel  was  a  model 
of  patience  and  good-humor,  though  terribly 
afflicted  at  times  with  asthmatic  difficulties. 
Mr.  Davis  answered  with  a  smile,  that  Mitch- 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  3 1 1 

el  was  used  to  it — had  been  in  this  or  a 
worse  strait  before ;  but  allowance  must  be 
made  for  himself  and  Clay,  who  were  only  serv 
ing  their  apprenticeship  to  Baron  Trenck's 
profession.  Took  leave  of  prisoner,  assuring 
him  I  would  call  on  the  friends  he  indicated 
in  Richmond,  deliver  his  messages  of  affec 
tionate  remembrance,  and  bring  back  all  the 
social  news. 

September  iid. — Called  on  Mr.  Davis  for 
the  first  time  since  returning  from  Richmond, 
accompanied  by  Captain  Titlow,  3d  Pennsyl 
vania  Artillery,  Officer  of  the  Day.  Found 
he  had  been  inquiring  for  me  several  days,  in 
consequence  of  suffering  premonitory  symp 
toms  of  a  return  of  the  erysipelas  to  his  face. 
Reported  his  condition  to  Major-General 
Miles,  respectfully  asking  permission  to  call 
in  Colonel  Pineo,  Medical  Inspector  of  the 
Department,  for  consultation. 

Mr.  Davis  inquired  about  friends  in  Rich 
mond,  asking,  with  a  smile,  was  he  still  re 
membered  there,  or  whether  it  had  been  found 
convenient  to  erase  his  name  from  the  tablets 


312  The  Prison  Life 

of  memory  ?  Assured  him  that  his  friends 
appeared  most  solicitous  for  his  welfare,  espe 
cially  the  ladies,  who  had  overwhelmed  my  wife 
with  attentions  during  our  brief  visit,  as  the 
only  means  of  expressing  their  gratitude  for 
any  alleviations  of  his  situation  which  my  duty 
as  his  medical  attendant  had  imposed.  Told 
him  the  destruction  from  the  fire  had  been 
great,  but  in  less  than  two  years  the  city  would 
have  retrieved  a  prosperity  not  only  equalling, 
but  surpassing  any  it  had  yet  known.  '  Over 
looking  Richmond  from  the  top  of  Gamble 
Hill,  the  clamor  of  trowels  and  hammers 
everywhere  resounded  beneath  me,  and  it 
seemed  like  an  enormous  beehive,  so  inces 
sant  was  the  industry.  Mentioned  that  Gene 
ral  Terry,  my  old  commander,  had  kindly 
placed  the  carriage  of  Mr.  Davis  at  my  dispo 
sal  during  the  visit;  and  that  I  had  visited 
with  much  interest,  and  not  without  sympathy 
the  beautiful  ground  of  Hollywood  Cemetery 
where  General  J.  E.  B.  Stuart  and  so  many 
other  distinguished  officers  of  the  late  South 
ern  army  now  lie  in  graves,  not  nameless 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  313 

indeed,  but  as  yet  with  no  enduring  monu 
ments.  Also  spoke  of  having  seen  Mr.  Lyons, 
Judge  Otild,  the  Grants,  and  many  other 
friends  of  his  during  my  stay  at  the  Ballard 
House. 

Mr.  Davis  laughed  about  his  carriage,  and 
said  that  since  some  "  Yankee"  had  to  ride  in 
it,  he  would  prefer  my  doing  so  to  another. 
During  the  war  they  had  no  time  to  build 
monuments  to  the  illustrious  dead — scarcely 
time  enough  or  means  enough  to  take  care  of 
the  wounded  living.  If  their  cause  had  been 
successful,  the  gratitude  of  a  new  nation  would 
have  built  splendid  mausoleums  and  trophies 
to  those  who  had  lost  their  lives  in  founding 
it ;  but  with  the  failure  of  the  cause,  this  duty 
of  piety  and  gratitude  must  now  devolve  on 
private  associations  of  patriotic  gratitude. 
General  Jackson  ("Stonewall")  appeared  to 
have  some  lively  presentiment  of  death  shortly 
before  its  occurrence,  and  had  *  asked  that  his 
only  monument  might  be  a  battle-flag  hoisted 
over  his  grave  until  such  time  as  the  cause  for 

which  he    fought  was   crowned  with  victory 

14 


314  The  Prison  Life 

and  secure  from  aggression.  Speaking  of  a 
message  of  condolence  and  cheer  the  Rev. 
D.  Minnegerode  had  sent  him,  Mr.  Davis 
spoke  in  warm  terms  of  the  learning,  zeal,  elo 
quence,  fidelity,  and  Christian  courage  of  that 
gentleman.  General  Lee  had  occupied  a  pew 
in  the  same  church,  and  unless  when  absent 
unavoidably  in  the  public  service,  was  one 
of  the  most  regular  and  devout  attendants. 
General  Lee  was,  undoubtedly,  one  of  the 
greatest  soldiers  of  the  age,  if  not  the  very 
greatest  of  this  or  any  other  country ;  but  had 
he  drawn  sword  on  the  Federal  side,  must 
have  been  remitted  to  obscurity,  under  our 
system,  in  the  first  six  months  of  the  war. 
Nothing,  however,  shook  the  confidence  of 
military  men,  competent  to  form  a  just  opin 
ion,  in  his  superior  qualifications  for  high 
command,  and  his  career  had  nobly  vindicated 
the  calm  estimate  of  professional  judgment. 

Mr.  Davis  inquired  anxiously  what  signs 
there  were,  if  any,  of  his  removal  to  the  new 
quarters  I  had  mentioned  before  my  Rich 
mond  visit  ?  He  was  more  than  ever  satisfied 


f  Jeftertvn  Davis.  315 


of  the  unhealthiness  of  his  casemate  .  and  the 
nights  were  now  growing  so  chill,  that  one 
might  as  well  be  condemned  to  sleep  in  a 
stone  coffin  —  a  little  better,  for  when  the  coffin 
comes  the  body  has  no  feeling. 

September  2$d.  —  Called  with  Lieutenant 
A.  H.  Bowman,  3d  Pennsylvania  Artillery, 
Officer  of  the  Day.  Found  the  condition  of 
Mr.  Davis  not  materially  changed,  and  so 
reported  to  General  Miles. 

Prisoner  renewed  his  questions  about  the 
proposed  change  in  his  place  of  confinement, 
begging  me,  if  I  knew  anything,  even  the 
worst,  that  he  was  to  be  kept  as  now  until 
death  put  an  end  to  his  sufferings,  not  to 
conceal  it  from  him  any  longer  ;  that  suspense 
was  more  injurious  to  him  than  could  be  the 
most  painful  certainty.  Assured  him  that  I 
had  no  further  information.  A  place  had  been 
selected  for  his  incarceration  in  Carroll  Hall, 
the  requisite  changes  in  the  rooms  made,  and 
I  heard  no  reason  for  his  non-transfer.  If  I 
did  so,  he  should  be  informed  immediately. 

Recurring  to  my  Richmond  visit,  Mr.  Davis 


316  The  Prison  Life 

made  many  minute  inquiries  relative  to  for 
mer  friends,  the  apparent  condition  of  the 
trades-people  in  regard  to  prosperity,  the 
social  relations,  if  any  were  allowed,  between 
the  occupying  army  and  the  inhabitants.  He 
said  his  people,  having  done  all  their  duty  in 
war,  had  now  the  two  duties  of  forgetting  the 
past,  preparing  to  accept  the  future.  One  of 
their  great  troubles  in  agricultural  districts 
must  be  the  difficulty  of  getting  draft  animals 
— horses,  mules,  and  oxen  having  been  so 
nearly  swept  away  by  the  war.  With  nothing 
to  regret  in  the  past  but  its  failure,  the  fail 
ure  and  its  consequences  should  be  accepted 
in  good  faith,  and  without  a  murmur.  The 
future  is  always  under  the  control  of  resolute 
men  ;  and  with  industry  and  the  influx  of 
Northern  and  European  capital,  which  must 
soon  be  tempted  by  the  preabundant  natural 
resources  in  the  South,  there  could  be  no 
reason  why  national  prosperity  should  not  be 
fully  reestablished  within  half  a  dozen  years 
— that  is,  if  the  Federal  Government  pursued 
a  wise  and  generous  course,  allaying  irrita- 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  3 1 7 

tions,  and  diverting  the  minds  of  the  people 
from  their  unsuccessful  sacrifices,  by  pointing 
out  and  encouraging  the  splendid  rewards  of 
industry. 

Mr.  Davis  renewed  my  attention  to  the 
steady  deterioration  of  his  health,  which  he 
regarded  as  chiefly  due  to  the  unfitness  of  his 
cell  for  a  human  habitation.  His  head  had 
a  continual  humming  in  it,  like  the  whizzing 
of  a  wound  watch  when  its  main-spring  is 
suddenly  broken.  Little  black  motes  slowly 
ascended  and  descended  between  his  sight 
and  whatever  page  he  was  reading,  or  object 
inspecting;  and  his  memory  likewise  gave  dis 
tinct  indications  of  losing  its  elasticity.  The 
carbuncle,  however,  was  quite  well,  having  left 
a  deep-red  cicatrice  where  it  had  been,  pre 
cisely  like  the  healed  wound  of  a  Minie  bullet. 
Mr.  Davis  had  not  much  flesh  to  lose  on 
entering  the  fort ;  but  believed  he  must  have 
lost  what  little  of  it  could  be  spared  while  still 
preserving  life.  Was  glad  to  see  from  the 
papers  that  General  Lee  had  accepted  the 
presidency  of  Washington  College,  in  Vir- 


318  The  Prison  Life 

ginia.  Happy  would  be  the  pupils  who 
would  grow  up  under  the  tutelage,  and  with 
the  noble  exemplar  before  them  of  his  pure 
life,  Christian  faith,  stainless  integrity,  and 
varied  acquirements.  The  crying  sin  of  our 
present  educational  system  is  a  neglect  of  the 
moral  nature,  while  overloading  the  intellec 
tual  with  premature  food,  which  it  must  be 
strained  in  digesting. 

September  24///. — Called  on  Mr.  Davis, 
accompanied  by  Captain  Bickley,  3d  Penn 
sylvania  Artillery,  Officer  of  the  Day.  Pri 
soner  much  better.  The  symptoms  of  a 
return  of  erysipelas  gone.  Had  enjoyed  his 
walk  on  the  ramparts,  and  had  seen  a  young 
lady  on  horseback  who  saluted  him  prettily  as 
she  passed.  Did  not  know  when  raising  his 
hat  that  he  was  bowing  to  his  young  hostess, 
but  was  informed  she  was  my  daughter. 
Remarked  that  she  rode  gracefully,  sending 
her  his  compliments,  and  then  commented  on 
the  little  attention  paid  to  horseback — the 
most  healthful  and  delicious  form  of  exercise 
— in  the  Northern  States,  and  more  especially 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  319 

amongst  the  ladies,  who  from  their  sedentary 
habits  \\ould  derive  most  benefit  from  its 
practice.  When  ladies  unaccustomed  to  the 
saddle  did  begin  horseback,  they  had  some 
thing  like  a  mania  for  fast  cantering,  or  even 
galloping,  it  being  not  only  a  pride  but 
wonder  to  them  at  the  termination  of  each 
ride  that  they  were  still  in  their  seats.  This 
was  ungraceful,  which  should  be  a  sufficient 
bar  to  its  continuance  ;  it  was  also  a  strain 
both  on  the  rider  and  beast.  A  short  burst 
now  and  then  along  good  parts  of  the  road 
was  very  well  occasionally,  to  warm  the  horse 
and  quicken  the  rider's  blood  ;  but  a  gentle 
trot  or  rack  was  the  true  gait  for  all  who 
wished  to  derive  health  from  this  exercise — 
more  especially  ladies ;  and  yet  the  canter  or 
gallop  was  their  favorite  pace.  The  Texan, 
Mexican,  and  Indian  riders  were  among  the 
best  he  had  ever  seen ;  the  men  of  these 
countries — for  the  women  never  ride,  except 
on  journeys  of  necessity,  horseback  as  a 
pleasure  or  for  health — being  several  grades 
beyond  their  advance  of  civilization.  Mr. 


320  The  Prison  Life 

Davis  then  spoke  of  Indians  dismounting 
and  remounting  while  their  ponies  were  in 
full  gallop,  swinging  their  bodies  down  and 
picking  up  stones,  etc. ;  but  added  there  were 
none  of  these  feats  which  he  had  not  seen 
some  of  our  dragoons  do  better  and  more 
certainly  when  once  taught  by  the  Indians. 
As  a  general  rule,  his  people  were  better 
horsemen  than  those  of  the  North.  This 
was  due  partly  to  some  remnant  of  cavalier 
origin  in  their  education  and  sentiments,  but 
still  more  to  the  distance  between  plantations, 
the  want  of  good  roads,  and  their  devotion  to 
agricultural  pursuits.  Their  cavalry  had  been 
superior  to  ours  in  the  commencement  of 
the  war  for  these  reasons,  but  their  stock  of 
horses  gave  out  sooner,  and  towards  the  close 
of  the  struggle  it  became  difficult  to  mount  a 
Confederate  regiment,  except  by  capturing  a 
regiment  of  their  enemies.  General  R.  Stuart 
had  been  styled  the  Prince  Regent  of  the 
South;  but  the  name,  as  in  many  other  cases, 
had  not  been  to  his  advantage.  He  was  a 
rarely  gallant  and  noble  gentleman,  well  sup- 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  321 

porting  by  his  character  the  tracLtk  n  that 
royal  blood  flowed  in  his  veins.  Subsisting 
his  command  gave  him  great  difficulty — the 
cavalry  having  to  be  scattered  for  winter 

4 

quarters  in  the  Shenandoah  valley,  and  other 
places  more  remote,  where  forage  was  plenti 
ful,  thus  relaxing  its  discipline  and  bringing 
it  already  somewhat  jaded  into  the  field  on 
the  return  of  spring. 

Mr.  Davis  then  spoke  of  Macaulay's  History 
of  England  with  a  freedom  and  unreserved- 
ness  of  admiration  such  as  he  rarely  expressed. 
The  portrait  painting  it  contained  was  more 
vivid  and  subtle  than  anything  on  this  side  of 
Plutarch,  and  gave  the  surrounding  circum 
stances  to  serve  as  a  frame  with  broader  scope 
and  more  liveliness  of  panoramic  effect.  The 
sketches  of  Clarendon,  Shrewsbury,  Marlbo- 
rough,  etc.,  etc.,  were  not  lifeless  simulachre, 
but  instinct  with  the  turbulence  and  intrigues 
both  of  the  social  and  political  atmospheres  in 
which  they  moved.  No  events  of  his  actual 
life  seemed  more  real  than  the  life  into  which 

he  was  transferred  by  the  absorbing  power  of 

14* 


322  The  Prison  Life 

Macaulay's  genius.  The  portrait  of  Marlbo- 
rough,  Mr.  Davis  thought  the  great  master 
piece  of  the  work,  though  drawn  with  a  pencil 
not  sufficiently  tempered  by  allowance  for 
the  unsettled,  revolutionary,  and  conspiratorial 
times  in  which  the  scenes  were  laid. 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  323 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

Removal  to  Carroll  Hall. — Some  Curious 
Coincidences. — A  Foolish  Precaution. — In 
teresting  Letter  from  Mrs.  Davis. — Adven 
tures  of  the  Family  from  Incarceration  of 
Mr.  Davis  up  to  date. 

OCTOBER  $th. — Visited  Mr.  Davis  once  or 
twice  in  the  interval  between  this  date  and 
my  last;  but  the  memoranda  of  such  calls 
cannot  be  found.  Remember,  however,  that 
the  fort  was  visited  during  the  interval  by 
Colonel  Louis  H.  Pelouze,  U.  S.  A.,  of  the 
War  Department — an  able,  kind,  and  gallant 
young  officer,  whom  I  had  previously  known 
as  Assistant  Adjutant-General  of  the  Sherman 
expedition  at  Port  Royal.  Colonel  Pelouze 
called  for  a  report  of  the  health  of  the  pris 
oner,  with  my  opinion  as  to  the  advisability 
or  necessity  of  a  change  in  his  place  of  con- 


324  The  Prison  Life 

finement ;  visited  the  new  qaarters  in  Car 
roll  Hall,  and  directed  General  Miles — being 
thereto  empowered  by  his  instructions — to 
remove  Mr.  'Davis  from  the  casemate  to  his 
new  and  more  pleasant  abode. 

Called  this  day  (October  5)  with  Captain 
Korte,  3d  Pennsylvania  Artillery,  Officer  of 
the  Day,  and  found  Mr.  Davis  already  look 
ing  much  brighter,  exclaiming  as  I  entered, 
"  The  world  does  move,  after  all."  The  panel 
in  the  side-door  opening  on  the  corridor,  in 
which  a  sentry's  face  was  framed,  gave  him 
some  annoyance,  and  he  referred  again  to 
JLafayette  in  connection  with  the  torture  of 
a  human  eye  constantly  riveted  on  his  move 
ments.  If  his.  wish  were  to  commit  suicide, 
such  a  precaution  would  prove  wholly  un 
availing.  It  looked  rather  as  if  the  wish  were 
to  drive  him  to  its  commission.  He  then  re 
ferred  to  some  eminent  French  general,  who, 
while  a  prisoner  in  England,  procured  and 
studied  anatomical  diagrams  for  the  purpose 
of  learning  how  life  could  be  most  certainly 
and  painlessly  lost,  or  with  least  disfigurement. 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  325 

He  discovered  that  precise  part  of  the  breast 
in  which  the  heart,  unprotected  by  any  rib, 
lay  nearest  the  surface.  Sticking  a  small  pin 
through  this  spot  in  the  diagram,  he  next 
applied  the  diagram  to  his  breast,  and  mark 
ed,  by  a  puncture,  the  exact  place  in  which 
even  the  slight  wound  of  a  pin-prod  would  be 
fatal.  Some  time  after,  being  transferred  to 
France,  and  reincarcerated  for  a  conspiracy 
against  the  life  of  the  Emperor,  he  was  found 
dead  in  his  cell — the  pin  sticking  in  his  heart, 
and  the  diagram,  which  he  had  never  parted 
with,  lying  at  his  feet.  This  was  an  instance 
of  how  absurd  it  was  to  attempt  preventing 
suicide  by  watchfulness.  Even  before  being 
allowed  knife  or  fork,  there  was  no  moment 
in  which  Mr.  Davis  could  not  have  thrown 
down  his  burden  of  life,  if  wicked  enough  to 
have  wished  so  rushing  into  the  presence  of 
his  Creator. 

Mr.  Davis  said  his  transfer  to  Carroll  Hall 
had  brought  back  many  curious  reminiscences 
of  his  past  life.  In  the  very  building  he  now 
occupied,  he  had  once,  as  Secretary  of  War, 


326  The  Prison  Life 

extended  the  prerogative  of  clemency  to  an 
officer,  since  eminently  distinguished  on  the 
Federal  side,  who  was  before  (or  sentenced  by) 
a  court-martial  under  grave  charges  as  an 
officer,  though  not  affecting  his  honor  as  a 
man.  The  coincidences  of  life  are  very  strik 
ing  ;  of  which  he  gave  several  curious  exam 
ples,  specially  mentioning  the  simultaneous 
deaths  of  John  Adams  and  Thomas  Jefferson 
on  the  4th  of  July,  1826,  the  half  century 
anniversary  of  the  Declaration  of  Independ 
ence,  which  had  been  so  largely  their  joint 
work.  Jefferson's  only  wish  when  failing  was 
to  live  to  that  morning,  on  waking  up  to  which 
his  first  exclamation  was :  "  It  is  then  Inde 
pendence  Day;  Lord,  now  lettest  thou  thy 
servant  depart  in  peace,  for  mine  eyes  have 
seen  Thy  salvation  ;"  while  the  last  words  of 
Adams,  his  illustrious  coadjutor,  were:  "  It  is 
a  great  and  a  good  day — Jefferson  yet  sur 
vives."  To  many  similarly  strange  coinci 
dences  Mr.  Davis  called  my  attention; 
but  only  those  are  preserved,  though  I 
vaguely  remember  his  reciting  some  curi- 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  327 

ous  facts  about  the  anniversaries  of  his  birth 
day. 

Mentioned  to  him  that  I  had  received  an 
order  from  General  Miles,  through  Captain 
Church,  that  morning,  directing  "  the  meals 
for  prisoner  Davis  to  be  furnished  him  punc 
tually  at  8J-  A.  M.,  and  3  and  8  o'clock  p.  M.,  until 
further  orders."  These  hours,  I  knew,  did  not 
suit  his  wishes  or  appetite,  but  of  course  must 
be  accepted.  He  never  ate  more  than  two 
meals  a  day,  and  desired  them  more  equably 
distributed. 

Mr.  Davis  asked  me  some  questions  about 
the  little  young,  big-headed,  black  boy,  re- 
christened  "  Joe,"  though  his  true  name 
was  Thomas  Bailey,  who  now  carried  over 
and  delivered  his  meals.  The  boy  was  from 
the  vicinity  of  Richmond,  and  had  been  for 
some  time,  with  other  members  of  his  family, 
a  refugee  within  our  lines.  It  seemed  natu 
ral  to  him  to  be  so  served,  and  the  food  came 
kindlier  than  from  the  hands  of  a  soldier, 
though  indeed,  upon  the  whole,  he  had  been 
most  kindly  and  considerately  treated  by  offi- 


328  The  Prison  Life 

cers  and  men.  Between  the  fighting  men  on 
both  sides  there  was  a  generous  and  appre 
ciative  spirit ;  it  was  the  rancorous  non-bellige 
rents  of  the  different  sections — they  who  had 
skulked  the  test  of  manhood — who  would 
now  prove  most  difficult  to  be  appeased. 
What  they  lacked  of  honorable  record  during 
the  progress  of  the  struggle,  they  would  en 
deavor  to  make  up  by  ferocious  zeal  after  the 
victory  had  been  decided.  The  principle  of 
compensation  prevailed  everywhere  through 
nature ;  and  for  the  immense  theoretical  boon 
of  freedom,  with  its  consequent  incalculable 
destruction  of  property,  he  feared  his  poor 
friends  of  "  Joe's  "  race  would  have  to  suffer 
fearfully  in  material  privations  and  an  in 
creased  hostility  of  race. 

Something — I  cannot  tell  what,  but  proba 
bly  the  constituents  of  his  breakfast,  for  he 
was  very  fond  of  fish — led  Mr.  Davis  to  speak 
of  the  manner  in  which  our  fresh-water  fish 
are  disseminated  ;  and  his  views,  though  pos 
sibly  old,  were  new  to  me  and  of  much  inter 
est.  We  are  often  astonished  by  finding 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  329 

various  breeds  of  fish  appear  in  some  acciden 
tal  cavity  of  the  ground  which  was  filled  with 
water;  also,  water-lilies  and  other  aquatic 
plants,  though  the  new  pond  has  no  visible 
connection  with  any  old  pond  supplied  with 
such  production.  Mr.  Davis  explains  this  by 
supposing  that  the  quawk,  poke,  bittern,  and 
the  various  fresh-water  ducks,  play  in  the 
economy  of  nature's  pisciculture  a  part  simi 
lar  to  that  played  by  bees  and  butterflies  in 
the  world  of  flowers.  Bathing  and  feeding 
in  some  older  pond  frequented  by  fish,  their 
feathers  become  impregnated  with  the  fecun 
dated  spawn,  the  seed  of  the  water-lilies,  and 
so  forth,  and  these  are  transferred  to  the 
new  pond  on  their  first  visit.  The  supposi 
tion  of  spawn  being  sucked  up  into  the  clouds 
and  descending  in  rain  was  not  worthy  of  re 
gard,  though  so  generally  accepted.  If  no 
thing  else,  the  cold  of  the  atmosphere  at  the 
height  of  the  clouds  would  kill  whatever  ani 
mal  life  the  spawn  contained.  The  analogy 
of  flower-life  was  entirely  in  favor  of  his  ex 
planation. 


330  The  Prison  Life 

October  13/7*. — Called  with  Capt.  Theo 
dore  Price,  3d  Pennsylvania  Artillery,  serving 
on  the  staff  of  Major-General  Miles,  Officer 
of  the  Day.  Mr.  Davis  in  good  health,  but 
complained  of  being  treated  as  though  he 
were  a  wild  beast  on  exhibition,  not  a  prison 
er  of  state  awaiting  trial.  Ladies  and  other 
friends  of  persons  in  authority  at  the  fort, 
were  let  loose  on  the  ramparts  about  the  hour 
of  his  walk,  to  stare  at  him  as  though  he  were 
the  caged  monster  of  some  travelling  menage 
rie.  He  had  endeavored  to  rebuke  this  dur 
ing  his  last  walk,  when  he  saw  a  group  of 
ladies  waiting  for  his  appearance,  by  turning 
short  round  and  reentering  his  cell.  Dear 
and  valuable  as  was  the  liberty  of  an  hour's 
exercise  in  the  open  air,  there  were  prices  at 
which  he  could  not  consent  to  purchase  it, 
and  this  was  of  the  number.  His  general 
treatment  Mr.  Davis  acknowledged  to  be 
good,  though  there  were  in  it  many  annoy 
ances  of  detail — such  as  the  sentry's  eye  al 
ways  fastened  on  his  movements,  and  the 
supervision  of  his  correspondence  with  his 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  331 

wife — unworthy  of  any  country  aspiring  to 
magnanimity  or  greatness. 

The  following  letter  will  be  read  with  inte 
rest  as  giving  a  most  graphic  view  of  what  the 
prisoner's  wife  and  family  had  to  endure  from 
his  quitting  them,  on  board  the  Clyde,  in 
Hampton  Roads,  down  to  the  day  of  its  date ; 
certain  parts,  reflecting  upon  individuals  by 
name,  I  have  taken  the  liberty  to  strike  out, 
but  the  remainder  of  the  letter  is  as  written : 

MILL  VIEW  (NEAR  AUGUSTA,  GA.),  October  10,  1865. 

COLONEL  JOHN  J.  CRAVEN, 

Chief  Medical  Officer,  Fort  Monroe,  Va. 
MY  DEAR  COLONEL, — Though  you  remain 
irrevocably  dumb  I  am  sure  you  hear  me,  and 
in  addressing  you  I  feel  as  if  writing  to  one 
of  my  oldest  and  most  reliable  friends.  Every 
letter  from  my  husband  comes  freighted  with 
good  wishes  for  you,  and  thanks  for  all  your 
kindness  to  him  in  his  hours  of  anguish  and 
solitude.  Can  you  doubt  that  my  prayers  for 
you,  and  appreciation  of  your  goodness,  have 
been  even  greater  than  his,  for  I  could  do 
nothing  but  pray  ?  Mr.  Davis  sent  me  a  carte 


33 2  The  Prison  Life 

de  visite  of  your  dear  Anna,  whose* sweet  face 
my  baby  knows  and  has  been  taught  to  kiss 
as  her  father's  friend.  The  baby  sends  her  a 
little  fan,  and  a  few  white  flowers,  made  in 
Augusta.  I  hope  she  may  like  them.  Mr. 
Davis  writes  me  that  she  has  gone  to  the 
Moravian  school,  near  Easton,  where,  I  trust, 
our  niece  may  have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  her. 
I  am  rendered  very  anxious  by  the  obsti 
nacy  of  the  erysipelas  with  my  suffering  hus 
band.  He  complains — in  answer  to  entreaties 
for  an  account  of  his  condition  without  con 
cealment — of  a  loss  of  sleep.  I  dread  para 
lysis  for  him,  his  nerves  have  been  so  highly 
strung  for  years  without  relief.  If  you  can, 
dear  Doctor  Craven,  do  entreat,  and  perhaps 
you  may  prevail  upon  the  authorities  to  let 
him  sleep  without  a  light.  He  is  too  feeble  to 
escape,  and  could  not  bear  a  light  in  his  room 
when  in  strong  health.  The  sequel  of  these 
attacks  has  always  been  an  attack  of  amauro- 
sis,  and  in  one  of  them  he  lost  his  eye.  It 
first  came  on  with  an  attack  of  acute  neu 
ralgia  ;  but  it  is  useless  for  me  to  begin  to  tell 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  333 

you  of  his  constitution.  You  must  have  seen 
pretty  well  its  peculiarities,  in  the  long  and 
kind  watches  you  have  kept  with  him. 

I  had  hoped  to  relieve  his  mind  by  a  full 
letter  of  personal  narrative,  but  that  letter  he 
has  not  received.  * 

When  he  was  taken  from  me  on  the  ship, 
the  provost-guard  and  some  women  detectives 
came  on  board,  and  after  the  women  searched 
our  persons,  the  men  searched  our  baggage. 

Either  they  or  the  soldiers  standing  around 
took  everything  they  fancied,  and  some  things 
so  large  that  I  did  not  see  how  their"  conduct 
could  escape  the  eye  of  the  guard,  and  of  the 
officer  who  superintended  the  search.  They 
then  told  my  servants  that  they  could  go 
ashore,  if  they  did  not  desire  to  go  to  Savan 
nah.  The  husband  of  my  negro  nurse  forced 
her  to  go,  and  the  white  girl  left  from  an  un 
willingness  to  be  exposed  to  a  Southern  cli 
mate.  I  entreated  to  be  permitted  to  debark 
at  Charleston,  as  my  sister,  Miss  Howell,  still 
continued  to  be  ill,  and  I  feared  to  return  on 
the  ship  with  a  drunken  purser,  who  had  pre- 


334  The  Prison  Life 

viously  required  Colonel  Pritchard's  authority 
to  keep  him  in  order ;  and  going  back,  Mrs. 
Clay,  my  sister,  and  myself,  would  be  the  only 
women  on  the  ship — but  this  was  refused. 
Acting  as  my  own  chambermaid  and  nurse, 
and  the  nurse  also  of  my  sister  and  Mrs.  Clay, 
who  were  both  ill,  we  started  for  Savannah. 
We  had  a  fearful  gale,  in  which  the  upper 
decks  once  or  twice  dipped  water,  and  no  one 
could  walk ;  but  as  I  felt  as  wretched  as  could 
be,  I  did  not  fear  a  future  state. 

God  protected  us  from  the  fury  of  the  ele 
ments  ;  but  the  soldiers  now  began  to  open 
and  rob  our  trunks  again.  The  crew,  how 
ever,  gave  us  some  protection,  and  one  of  the 
officers  in  the  engine-room  gave  up  his  cabin 
and  locked  everything  we  had  left  up  in  it. 
The  Lieutenant  of  the  i4th  Maine,  Mr.  Grant, 
though  a  plain  man,  had  the  heart  of  a  gentle 
man,  and  took  care  of  us  with  the  greatest 
assiduity.  Some  of  the  soldiers  and  crew 
helped  me  to  nurse,  and  saved  me  many  an 
hour  of  wakefulness  and  fatigue.  My  little 
daughter  Maggie  was  quite  like  an  old  woman; 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  335 

she  took  her  sister  early  every  morning — for 
the  nights  were  so  rough  I  could  not  sleep, 
because  it  was  necessary  to  hold  the  infant  to 
avoid  bruising  it — and  with  the  assistance  of 
our  faithful  servant  Robert,  who  held  her  still 
while  she  held  her  sister,  she  nursed  her  long 
enough  for  me  to  rest.  Little  Jeff  and  I  did 
the  housekeeping;  it  was  a  fair  division  of 
labor,  and  not  unpleasant,  as  it  displayed  the 
good  hearts  of  my  children. 

At  the  harbor  of  Charleston  the  sick  began 
to  improve.  We  procured  ice  and  milk,  and 
the  day's  rest,  which  the  ship  at  anchor  gave 
them,  improved  them  much. 

Arrived  at  Savannah,  we  trudged  up  to  the 
hotel  quite  in  emigrant  fashion,  Margaret 
with  the  baby  and  Robert  with  the  baggage  ; 
I,  with  Billy  and  Jeff  and  Maggie  in  quite  an 
old-fashioned  manner,  keeping  all  straight  and 
acting  as  parcel-carrier,  for  we  could  not 
procure  any  carnage  and  must  walk  until  we 
reached  the  Pulaski  House,  where,  after  a 
day  and  night,  we  procured  comfortable 
rooms.  The  innkeeper  was  a  kind  man, 


336  Tke  Prison  Life 

and  felt  for  jiiy  unfortunate  condition.  He; 
therefore,  did  everything  in  his  power  to  make 
us  comfortable.  A  funny  incident  happened 
the  day  I  arrived  there. 

A  black  waiter,  upon  answering  tny  bell, 
and  being  told  to  call  my  man-servant  Robert, 
replied  very  impertinently  that  "  if  he  should 
see  Robert  he  would  give  the  order,  but  did 
not  expect  to  see  him."  When  Robert  heard 
it,  he  waited  till  all  the  black  servants  had 
assembled  at  dinner,  and  then  remarked  that 
he  should  hate  to  believe  there  was  a  colored 
man  so  low  as  to  insult  a  distressed  woman  ; 
but  if  so,  though  a  peaceable  man,  he  should 
whip  the  first  who  did  so.  The  guilty  man 
began  to  excuse  himself,  whereupon  Robert 
said  :  "  Oh,  it  was  you,  was  it  ?  Well,  you 
do  look  mean  enough  for  that  or  anything 
else."  From  that  time  all  the  greatest  assi 
duity  could  do  was  done  for  me,  first  from 
esprit  de  corps,  and  then  from  kind  feeling 

The  people  of  'Savannah  treated  me .  with 
the  greatest  tenderness.  Had  I  been  a  sister 
long  absent  and  just  returned  to  their  home,  I 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  337 

could  have  received  no  more  tender  welcome. 
Houses  were  thrown  open  to  me,  anything 
and  everything  wa's  mine.  My  children  had 
not  much  more  than  a  change  of  clothing  after 
all  the  parties  who  had  us.  in  charge  had  done 
lightening  our  baggage,  so  they  gave  the  baby 
dresses,  and  the  other  little  ones  enough  to 
change  until  I  could  buy  or  make  more. 

Unfortunately  for  me,  General  *  *  *  *, 
who,  I  hear,  was  "  not  to  the  manor  born,"  was 
in  command  of  the  district  at  the  time.  I 
asked  permission  to  see  him,  and  as  I  was  so 
unwell  that  I  could  not  speak  above  my  breath 
with  a  cold,  and  suffered  from  fever  constantly 
— the  result  of  exposure  on  the  ship — I  wrote 
to  beg  that  he  would  come  to  see  me,  for  his 
aide  had  told  me  the  night  before  that  I  could 
not  be  permitted  to  leave  Savannah,  and  hav 
ing  been  robbed  of  nearly  all  my  means,  I 
could  not  afford  to  stay  at  the  hotel ;  and, 
besides,  as  soon  as  I  reached  the  hotel,  detec 
tives  were  placed  to  watch  both  me  and  my 
visitors,  so  I  did  not  feel  at  liberty,  thus 
accompanied,  to  go  to  private  houses. 

«S 


3 38  The  Prison  Life 

General  *  *  's  aide,  .whose  animus  was 
probably  irreproachable,  but  whose  orthogra 
phy  was  very  bad,  was  directed  to  tell  me  that, 
except  under  very  extraordinary  circumstan 
ces,  he  did  not  go  out  of  his  office,  and  "  all 
such"  (which  I  afterwards  found  to  mean  my 
self)  "  as  desired  to  see  him  would  call  at  his 
office."  To  which  I  answered,  that  I  thought 
illness  and  my  circumstances  constituted  an 
extraordinary  case  ;  but  that  I  was  sorry  to 
have  asked  anything  which  he  "  felt  called 
upon  so  curtly  to  refuse,"  and  requested  to 
be  informed  what  hour  would  please  him  on 
the  following  day,  and  I  would  do  myself  the 
honor  to  call  upon  him.  Whereupon  the  same 
unfortunate,  well-meaning,  ill-spelling  young 
gentleman  wrote  to  me  that  "  all  such  as  de 
sired  might  draw  nigh  from  nine  until  three." 
"  I  went,  accompanied  by  General  Mercer  of 
Savannah.  Need  I  say  that  General  *  *  *  * 
did  himself  justice,  and  verified  my  precon 
ceived  opinion  of  him  in  our  interview,  in 
which  he  told  me  he  "  guessed  I  could  not 
telegraph  to  Washington,  write  to  the  heads 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  339 

of  Departments  there,  or  to  anybody,  .except 
through  the  regular  channel  approved ; "  and  1 
could  not  write  to  my  friends,  "except  through 
the  Provost-Marshal's  office ; "  and  that  I  was 
permitted  to  pay  my  expenses,  but  must  re 
main  within  the  limits  of  Savannah. 

With  many  thanks  for  this  large  liberty 
accorded  so  graciously,  I  bowed  myself  out, 
first  having  declined  to  get  soldiers'  rations  by 
application  for  them  to  this  government. 

In  this  condition  I  remained  for  many 
weeks,  until,  fortunately  for  me,  General  Birge 
relieved  him ;  who  had  it  not  in  his  power, 
however,  to  remove  the  restrictions  any  fur 
ther  than  to  take  the  detectives  away,  of  whom 
I  heard,  but  did  not  see.  But  General  Birge 
permitted  me  to  write  unrestrictedly  to  whom 
I  pleased,  and  appeared  anxious,  in  the  true 
spirit  of  a  gentleman,  to  offer  all  the  courte 
sies  he  consistently  could. 

My  baby  caught  the  whooping-cough,  and 
was  ill  almost  unto  death  for  some  days  with 
the  fever  which  precedes  the  cough ;  and  then 
she  slowly  declined.  I  did  what  I  could  to 


34°  The  Prison  Life 

give  her  fresh  air;  but  the  heat  WJLS  so  intense, 
the  insects  so  annoying,  and  two  rooms  such 
close  quarters,  that  she  and  I  suffered  much 
more  than  I  hope  you  or  yours  will  ever  know 
by  experience. 

My  most  acute  agony  arose  from  the  pub 
lication  and  republication  in  the  Savannah  Re 
publican  of  the  shackling  scene  in  Mr.  Davis's 
casemate,  which,  to  think  of,  stops  my  heart's 
vibration.  It  was  piteous  to  hear  the  little 
children  pray  at  their  grace,  "  That  the  Lord 
would  give  father  something  which  he  could 
eat,  and  keep  him  strong,  and  bring  him  back 
to  us  with  his  good  senses,  to  his  little  chil 
dren,  for  Christ's  sake ; "  and  nearly  every  day 
during  the  hardest,  bitterest  of  his  imprison 
ment,  our  little  child  Maggie  had  to  quit  the 
table  to  dry  her  tears  after  this  grace,  which 
was  of  her  own  composition. 

I  believe,  Doctor,  I  should  have  lost  my 
senses  if  these  severities  had  been  persevered 
in,  for  I  could  neither  eat  nor  sleep  for  a  week  ; 
but  opiates,  and  the  information  of  the  change 
effected  by  your  advice,  relieved  me ;  and  I 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  341 

have  thanked  God  nightly  for  your  brave 
humanity.  It  is  easier  to  fight  with  a  revol 
ver  than  to  repeat  unpleasant  truths  to  a  hos 
tile  and  untrammelled  power  in  the  full  indul 
gence  of  its  cruel  instincts.  All  honor  to  the 
brave  men  who  fearlessly  did  so. 

Though  I  ate,  slept,  and  lived  in  my  room, 
rarely  or  never  going  out  in  the  day,  and  only 
walking  out  late  at  night,  with  Robert  for  pro 
tection,  I  could  not  keep  my  little  ones  so 
closely  confined.  Little  Jeff  and  Billy  went 
out  on  the  street  to  play,  and  there  Jeff  was 
constantly  told  that  he  was  rich ;  that  his 
father  had  "  stolen  eight  millions,"  etc.  Billy 
,was  taught  to  sing,  "We'll  hang  Jeff  Davis 
on  a  sour  apple-tree,"  by  giving  him  a  reward 
when  he  did  so ;  and  he  made  such  good 
friends  with  the  soldiers,  that  the  poor  child 
seemed  to  forget  a  great  deal  of  his  regard  for 
his  father.  The  little  thing  finally  told  me  one 
day,  "  You  thinks  Fse  somebody ;  so  is  you ; 
so  is  father ;  but  you  is  not ;  so  is  not  any 
of  us,  but  me.  I  am  a  Yankee  every  time." 
The  rou^h  soldiers,  doubtless,  meant  to  be 


342  The  Prison  Life 

kind,  but  such  things  wound  me  to  the  quick 
They  took  him  and  made  him  snatch  apples 
off  the  stalls,  if  Robert  lost  sight  of  him  for  a 
moment. 

Finally,  two  women  from  Maine  contem 
plated  whipping  him,  because  they  found  out 
that  he  was  his  father's  son ;  but  "  a  man 
more  wise  did  them  surprise,"  and  took  him 
off  just  in  time  to  avoid  a  very  painful  scene 
to  them  as  well  as  to  me.  These  things  went 
on  in  the  street — I  refer  only  to  the  street- 
teachings — though  these  women  were,  with 
one  other,  dishonorable  exceptions  to  the 
ladies  in  the  house,  until  Captain 
was  ordered  to  Savannah  on  duty.  He 
brought  with  him  a  person  who  I  heard  was 
his  wife.  As  I  never  went  into  the  parlor  I 
did  not  see  her,  but  my  little  son  Jeff  went 
accidentally  into  the  room  one  day  and  inter 
rupted  a  conversation  sh'e  was  indulging  her 
self  in  with  one  of  the  negro  waiters,  in 
which  she  was  laying  down  "  the  proper  pol 
icy  to  be  pursued  towards  Mr.  Davis." 

The  servant,  having  been    brought    up  by 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  343 

a  lady,  felt  very  uncomfortable,  and  said, 
'i  Madam,  there  is  his  son."  She  called  little 
Jeff  up  to  her  and  told  him  his  father  was 
"  a  rogue,  a  liar,  an  assassin,  and  that  means 
a  murderer,  boy ;  and  I  hope  he  may  be  tied 
to  a  stake  and  burned  a  little  bit  at  a  time 
with  light-wood  knots.  God  forbid  you 
should  grow  up  a  comfort  to  your  mother. 
Remember,  you  can  never  be  a  gentleman 
while  this  country  lasts.  Your-  father  will 
soon  be  hanged,  but  that  death  is  too  quick." 

The  negro  retired  mortified,  and  sent  my 
nurse  to  call  little  Jeff;  and  so,  with  his  little 
face  purple  with  mortification,  and  wet  with 
tears  from  his  streaming  eyes,  he  came  up  to 
me,  leaving  the  pious  and  patriotic  lady  to 
find  another  audience  as  congenial  to  her 
tastes  as  the  first  had  been. 

I  commended  Jeff's  gentlemanly  conduct 
in  making  no  reply ;  cautioned  him  against 
ever  persecuting,  or  distressing  a  woman,  or 
a  friend,  if  it  took  that  shape ;  made  applica 
tion  for  permission  the  next  day  to  go  away 
to  Augusta ;  was  refused,  and  then  prepared 


344  ^e  Prison  Life 

the  children  to  go  where  they  would  not  see 
such  indignantly  patriotic  and  prophetic 
females.  Nothing,  however,  but  the  dread  of 
intruding  into  a  secret  and  sacred  grief  pre 
vented  my  writing  poor  Capt.  4  *  a  sym 
pathetic  note,  to  condole  with  him  upon  the 
dispensation  of  Providence  under  which,  in 
the  person  of  his  wife,  he  groaned. 

Hourly  scenes  of  violence  were  going  on 
in  the  street,  and  not  reported,  between  the 
whites  and  blacks,  and  I  felt  that  the  chil 
dren's  lives  were  not  safe.  During  General 
*  's  regime,  a  negro  sentinel  levelled  his 
gun  at  my  little  daughter  to  shoot  her  for  call 
ing  him  "  uncle."  I  could  mourn  with  hope 
if  my  children  lived,  but  what  was  to  become 
of  me  if  I  was  deprived  of  them  ?  So  I  sent 
them  off  with  many  prayers  and  tears,  but 
confidant  of  the  wisdom  of  the  decision.  On 
the  ship  I  understood  a  man  was  very  abusive 
in  their  hearing  of  Mr.  Davis,  when  my  faith 
ful  servant  Robert  inquired  with  great  inter 
est,  "  Then  you  tell  me  I  am  your  equal  ? 
You  put  me  alongside  of  you  in  everything  ? " 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  345 

The  man  said  "  Certainly."  "  Then,"  said  Rob- 
ert,  "  take  this  from  your  equal,"  and  knocked 
him  down.  The  captain  was  appealed  to, 
and  upon  a  hearing  of  the  case,  justified  Rob 
ert,  and  required  an  apology  of  the  levelled 
leveller. 

Little  Jeff  is  now  at  the  endowed  grammar- 
school,  near  Montreal,  in  charge  of  a  Mrs. 
Morris,  who  has  the  care  of  ten  little  boys  of 
good  family,  some  of  them  Southern  boys, 
and  is  happy,  so  he  writes  me.  Mrs.  Morris 
superintends  his  clothes  and  person,  and 
teaches  him  his  lessons.  She  was  chosen  by 
the  faculty  of  the  college  for  her  high  charac 
ter.  Maggie  is  at  the  Convent  of  the  Sacred 
Heart,  in  the  same  place,  where  Gen.  William 
Preston's  little  girls  are,  and  very  kind  they 
are  to  her.  A  nun  is  always  present  with 
the  small  girls,  who  are  separated  from  the 
large  girls.  Little  Billy  is  his  grandmother's 
one  pet  and  idol,  always  with  her,  and  in  pret 
ty  good  health.  I  have  sent  their  dear  father 
a  picture  of  Maggie's  school,  and  a  little 

scribbled  letter  from  his  big  boy  to  me. 

15* 


346  The  Prison  Life 

As  soon  as  the  dear  children  were  gone,  1 
hoped  with  my  little  weak  baby  (you  see  I  am 
yery  honest  with  you)  to  make  my  escape  out 
of  the  country  to  them ;  but  when,  upon  com 
ing  to  Augusta — which  General  Steadman 
gave  me  leave  to  do  immediately  upon  his 
accession  to  command,  through  the  very  kind 
intercession  of  General  Brannen,  who  suc 
ceeded  General  Birge — I  was  informed  by  a 
gentleman  who  said  he  had  been  told  so  au 
thoritatively,  that  "  if  I  ever  quitted  the  coun 
try  under  any  possible  object,  I  would — no 
matter  what  befell  Mr.  Davis — never  be  al 
lowed  to  return."  I  abandoned  the  inten 
tion.  As  might  makes  right  in  my  case,  and 
as  my  sister's  health  had  failed  rapidly  in  the 
South,  and  as  she  is  a  girl  of  rare  judgment 
and  good  feeling,  I  sent  her  with  my  nephew 
to  New  York  en  route  for  Canada  to  take  care 
of  my  devoted  mother,  who  is  now  too  old 
and  delicate  to  be  left  alone. 

My  two  nephews  joined  me  here  about  a 
month  ago  and  desired  to  take  me  home  with 
them  ;  but  finding  that  the  length  of  my  tether 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  347 

only  permitted  me  to  browse  "  in  Georgia," 
they  stayed  two  days  and  were  then  forced  to 
go  home  to  their  families.  My  baby  has 
grown  fat  and  rosy  as  the  "  Glory  of  France :" 
a  rose  which  Mr.  Davis  recollects  near  the 
gate  of  our  home.  Under  the  kind  treat 
ment  I  have  received,  the  fine  country  air 
(five  miles  from  Augusta)  and  the  privacy,  I 
have  also  grown  very  much  better ;  can  sleep 
and  eat,  and  begin  to  feel  alive  again  with  the 
frosty  air,  and  loving  words,  and  letters  which 
meet  me  here  as  in  Savannah. 

Mr.  Geo.  Scheley  is  my  host,  and  never 
had  a  child  in  her  father's  home  a  warmer 
welcome.  I  am  at  no  expense,  and  entirely 
gladly  welcome.  The  little  baby  eats  hominy 
and  drinks  fresh  milk ;  grows  in  grace  and 
weight ;  talks  a  little,  and  being  more  gentle 
than  little  Jeff's  friend,  Mrs.  *  *  *  *  is  a 
great  pet  with  all.  The  difficulty  is  to  accept 
all  the  invitations  I  get,  or  to  refuse  them 
rather — the  whole  Southern  country  teeming 
with  homes,  the  doors  of  which  open  wide  to 
receive  me;  and  people  are  so  loving,  talk 


The  Prison  Life 

with  such  streaming  eyes  and  broken  voices 
of  him  who  is  so  precious  to  them  and  to  me, 
that  I  cannot  realize  I  do  not  know  them  inti 
mately.  Mr.  Davis  should  dismiss  all  fears 
for  me.  Money  is  urged  upon  me — every 
thing.  I  only  suffer  for  him.  I  do  not  meet 
a  young  man  who  fails  to  put  himself  at  my 
disposal  to  go  anywhere  for  me.  I  cannot 
pay  a  doctor's  bill,  or  buy  of  an  apothecary. 
"  All  these  things  are  added  unto  me." 

If  I  have  written  you  too  long  a  letter,  my 
dear  sir,  it  is  because  I  have  not  collected  my 
facts,  but  sought  "  quid  scribam,  non  quern 
ad  modum."  Please  give  your  good  wife  as 
much  gratitude  as  she  will  receive  from  me ; 
and  I  cannot  permit  you  to  measure  it  for 
yourself.  My  children  shall  rise  up  and  call 
her  blessed.  May  God  show  her  and  hers 
that  mercy  which  you  have  been  the  means 
of  bringing  to  my  poor  husband,  and  you  will 
be  blessed  indeed.  This  is  the  constant 
prayer  of  your  grateful  friend, 

VARINA  DAVIS. 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  349 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

A  New  Regiment  on  Guard. — Ordered  not  to 
Communicate  with  Mr.  Davis,  save  on 
"  Strictly  Professional  Matters'.' — The  Cor 
respondence  about  Prisoner  s  Overcoat. 

OCTOBER  2O//£. — Called  on  Mr.  Davis,  accom 
panied  by  Captain  Titlow,  3d  Pennsylvania 
Artillery,  Officer  of  the  Day.  His  health  ap 
peared  satisfactory,  and  his  change  of  quarters 
had  already  been  of  evident  benefit. 

Some  remarks  in  the  papers  led  him  to  say, 
that  nothing  could  be  more  unjust  than  to  ac 
cuse  the  South  of  having  wished  the  destruc 
tion  of  the  Constitutional  Union  of  the  States. 
It  was  not  amongst  his  people  that  the  Con 
stitution  had  been  continually  denounced  as 
a  "  bond  with  death  and  covenant  with  hell." 
To  them  the  government  had  invariably  been 
described  as  the  "most  beneficent  and  just 


350  The  Prison  Life 

government  upon  the  face  of  the  earth ; "  and 
it  was  only  when  what  they  regarded  as  a  sec 
tional  Presidential  ticket  had  been  elected,  and 
their  rights  of  liberty  and  property  threatened, 
that  they  rose  to  vindicate  the  reserved  rights 
of  State  sovereignty,  under  a  constitution 
which  they  believed  to  have  been  subverted. 

Speaking  of  Mr.  Bancroft,  whose  history  of 
the  United  States  he  much  read  and  admired, 
frequently  marking  passages  of  it  with  his 
finger-nail,  as  a  pencil  was  denied  him,  Mr. 
Davis  said  it  was  appalling  to  contemplate  the 
extra  labors  which  must  be  imposed  on  future 
historians  by  the  increased  activity  of  the  press 
in  these  latter  days,  and  the  looseness  with 
which  their  reports  were  made.  It  will  require 
the  labors  of  several  lives  to  make  the  mere 
sifting  of  materials  from  the  columns  of  the 
press,  unless  the  historian  shall  boldly  go  to 
work  by  discarding  all  such  authorities,  and 
confining  his  scrutiny  to  the  official  reports  on 
either  side.  He  was  glad  to  see  that  the  vari 
ous  provisional  State  governments  of  the' 
South  were  accepting  the  reconstruction  policy 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  351 

of  President  Johnson,  practically  and  in  good 
faith.  Universal  amnesty — though  he  did  not 
ask  it  for  himself — with  restoration  of  property 
and  civil  rights  to  all  willing  to  take  the  oath 
of  allegiance,  would  speedily  restore  to  the 
whole  country  so  much  of  harmony  and  homo 
geneity  as  was  now  possible,  and  so  much 
needed  by  its  political  and  financial  interests. 
No  apprehensions  need  be  felt  from  any  war 
with  England  or  France,  unless  the  South 
should  be  permanently  alienated  by  despair 
of  tolerant  terms.  Even  then,  as  an  American 
with  no  other  country  left  him,  he  would  be 
for  unanimous  support  of  the  country  against 
its  European  enemies,  but  the  same  sentiments 
might  not  be  likely  to  prevail  amongst  the 
masses  of  his  people.  They  had  in  their  blood 
the  faults  of  a  Southern  sky,  "sudden  and 
quick  in  quarrel,  jealous  of  honor."  The 
question  of  negro  soldiers  was  not  a  new  one 
in  this  war.  Such  class  of  soldiers  had  twice 
before  been  enlisted  in  the  history  of  the 
country,  but  not  trusted  upon  active  service 
on  either  occasion ;  and  when  he  had  been  in 


35 2  The  Prison  Life 

the  War  Department,  a  proposition  had  been 
urged  by  several  eminent  officers  of  the  regu 
lar  army  for  garrisoning  the  defences  of  the 
Southern  coast  with  regiments  of  blacks,  on 
the  ground  that  they  could  resist  the  exposures 
of  the  climate  better. 

October  2$th. — Called  upon  Mr.  Davis, 
accompanied  by  Captain  Korte,  3d  Pennsyl 
vania  Artillery,  Officer  of  the  Day.  Mr. 
Davis  had  been  for  some  time  complaining 
that  his  light  suit  of  grey  tweed  was  too  thin 
for  the  increasing  cold  of  the  days  on  the 
ramparts  of  the  fortress,  and  finding  that  his 
measure  was  with  a  tailor  in  Washington,  I 
requested  a  friend  of  mine  to  call  there  and 
order  a  good  heavy  black  pilot-cloth  overcoat 
for  the  prisoner,  and  that  the  bill  should  be 
sent  to  me.  Also,  ordered  from  a  store  in 
New  York  some  heavy  flannels  to  make  Mr. 
Davis  comfortable  for  the  winter.  These 
acts,  to  me  appearing  innocent,  and  even 
laudable,  caused  great  trouble,  as  may  be  seen 
by  the  following  correspondence,  finally  lead 
ing  to  a  peremptory  order  which  almost  alto- 


of  Jefferson  Davis  353 

gether  broke  off  the  previously  free  relations 
I  had  exercised  with  Mr.  Davis.  This,  how 
ever,  will  more  properly  appear  further  on, 
when  the  various  letters  on  the  subject  are 
inserted  under  their  proper  date. 

October  29^/2. — Called,  accompanied  by 
Captain  R.  W.  Bickley,  3d  Pennsylvania 
Artillery,  Officer  of  the  Day,  who  announced 
that  his  regiment  was  under  orders  to  quit 
the  fort  on  the  last  day  of  the  month,  pre 
paratory  to  being  mustered  out  of  the  service. 
Mr.  Davis  replied  with  much  feeling,  express 
ing  his  regret  that  a  regiment  whose  officers 
had  shown  him  so  much  genuine  kindness 
within  the  limits  of  their  duty,  and  whom  he 
had  come  to  regard  more  as  friends  than 
custodians,  should  be  about  quitting  him — 
though  he  had  no  doubt  of  being  treated  with 
equal  consideration  by  the  officers  of  the  in 
coming  regiment,  the  5th  United  States 
Artillery,  with  many  of  whose  officers  he  had 
been  acquainted  before  the  war.  To  a  pri 
soner  new  faces  were  never  pleasant,  unless 
the  old  faces  had  become  intolerable  from 


354  The  Prison  Life 

cruelty,  which  had  been  the  reverse  of  this  in 
his  case.  No  matter  what  his  fate  might  be 
in  the  future,  he  could  never  forget  the  3d 
Pennsylvania  Artillery. 

Mr.  Davis  also  referred  to  the  kindness  of 
Captain  Grisson,  of  the  staff  of  General  Miles, 
in  regard  to  a  little  matter  which,  though 
trivial  in  itself,  had  given,  him  much  annoy 
ance.  It  arose  in  this  manner:  he  had  re 
quested  a  barber  to  be  sent  to  him,  as  his  hair 
was  growing  too  long.  Captain  Grisson 
brought  a  hair-dresser,  but  on  the  termination 
of  the  operation  said  it  was  the  order  of 
General  Miles  that  the  lopped  hair  should  be 
carried  over  to  headquarters.  To  this  Mr. 
Davis  objected,  first  from  having  a  horror  of 
having  such  trophies  or  "  relics "  paraded 
around  the  country,  and  secondly  because  he 
wished  to  send  it  to  Mrs.  Davis  ;  this  latter 
probably  an  excuse  to  avoid  the  former  dis 
agreeable  alternative.  Captain  Grisson  replied 
that  his  orders  were  peremptory,  but  if  Mr. 
Davis  would  fold  the  hair  up  in  a  newspaper 
and  leave  it  on  a  designated  shelf  in  the  case- 


of  Jefferson  Davis  355 

mate,  the  Captain  would  step  over  to  head 
quarters,  report  the  prisoner's  objections,  and 
ask  for  further  orders.  This  was  done,  and 
Captain  Grisson  soon  returned  with  the  glad 
tidings  that  the  desire  to  obtain  possession  of 
these  "interesting  relics"  had  been  abandoned. 
Mr.  Davis  also  spoke  with  great  interest  of  a 
volume  called  the  Schonburgh  Cotta  Family, 
which  had  been  sent  for  his  perusal  by  a  lady 
in  Richmond.  It  had  been  brought,  I  believe, 
by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Minnegerode,  when  that  gen 
tleman  called  at  Fort  Monroe  on  the  day  of 
my  return  from  Richmond  to  administer  the 
Sacrament  to  his  former  parishioner. 

October  3  !«$•/. — Called  with  Captain  Titlow, 
Officer  of  the  Day,  the  last  officer  of  the  3d 
Pennsylvania  Artillery,  who  had  charge  of  the 
prisoner.  Mr.  Davis  renewed  his  friendly  and 
grateful  messages  to  the  officers  of  the  regi 
ment,  specifying  several  by  name,  and  desiring 
to  be  remembered  by  them.  As  it  stormed, 
there  had  been  a  fire  built  in  the  grate,  and 
Mr.  Davis  spoke  of  its  cheering  effect  both  on 
body,  eye,  and  mind ;  the  stove  being  both 


356  The  Prison  Life 

injurious  and  unpleasant,  as  it  concealed  the 
best  part  of  the  fire,  which  was  its  rich,  home 
like,  and  enlivening  appearance.  It  had  al 
ways  appeared  natural  to  him  that  savage 
nations,  in  the  absence  of  revealed  religion, 
should  adopt  fire  as  their  god.  It  was  the 
nearest  approach  in  the  material  world  to  the 
invisible  spirit  of  life.  Negroes  and  Indians, 
even  in  summer-time,  would  build  a  fire  and 
squat  down  around  it,  forgetting  all  the 
demands  of  labor  and  amusement.  Indeed, 
one  of  the  earliest  instincts  of  humanity, 
whether  civilized  or  savage,  was  to  collect 
around  a  bonfire  in  our  childhood. 

The  change  to  Carroll  Hall  had  been  of  the 
greatest  benefit  to  the  prisoner's  health,  the 
air  being  purer  as  it  was  loftier,  his  own  room 
more  cheerful,  and  only  subject  to  the  draw 
back  that  he  had  human  eyes  from  three  di 
rections  continually  fixed  upon  him  through 
the  grated  door  entering  his  room,  the  win 
dow  opening  on  the  piazza  at  his  left,  and  the 
door  opposite  the  window,  with  an  open  panel 
in  it,  opposite  which  stood  a  sentry. 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  357 

November  \st. — Called  with  Brevet-Captain 
Valentine  H.  Stone,  5th  U.  S.  Artillery,  First 
Officer  of  the  Day,  from  the  new  regiment 
garrisoning  the  fort.  Mr.  Davis  appeared  out 
of  sorts — not  body-sick,  but  heart-sick,  as  he 
said  himself.  He  appeared  to  scrutinize  Cap 
tain  Stone  with  great  care,  asking  him  all 
about  his  term  of  service,  his  early  education 
etc.,  as  if  anxious  to  find  out  everything  ascer- 
tainable  about  the  new  men  into  whose  hands 
he  had  fallen — an  operation  repeated  with 
each  new  Officer  of  the  Day  who  called  to 
see  him.  Indeed  this  habit  of  analysis  ap 
peared  universal  with  the  prisoner.  It  seem 
ed  as  if  he  put  into  a  crucible  each  fresh 
development  of  humanity  that  crossed .  his 
path,  testing  it  therein  for  as  long  as  the  in 
terview  lasted,  and  then  carefully  inspecting 
the  ingot  which  was  left  as  the  result.  That 
ingot,  whether  appearing  to  him  pure  gold  or 
baser  metal,  never  lost  its  character  to  his 
mind  from  any  subsequent  acquaintance.  He 
never  changed  his  opinion  of  a  man,  or  so 
rarely  as  merely  to  prove  the  rule  by  its  ex- 


35  8  The  Prison  Life 

ception ;  and  this  was  one  of  the  faults  alleged 
against  him  as  a  leader  by  his  opponents.  It 
may  have  been  pride  that  would  not  abandon 
a  judgment  once  formed;  or,  more  probably, 
that  Mr.  Davis  had  been  taught  by  his  expe 
rience  of  the  world,  how  rarely  we  improve 
the  correctness  of  such  estimates  by  subse 
quent  alterations.  In  ourfirst  judgment,  it  is 
the  nearly  infallible  voice  of  instinct,  un 
biassed  by  any  other  causes,  which  delivers  the 
verdict;  while  in  closer  acquaintance  after 
wards,  the  acts  of  the  hypocrite,  or  the  fami 
liarity  which  so  blunts  and  deadens  our  per 
ceptions,  may  interfere  to  lead  us  astray. 

Mr.  Davis  said  it  was  scandalous  that  gov 
ernment  should  allow  General  Miles  to  review 
his  letters  to  his  wife.  They  had  to  pass 
through  the  hands  of  Attorney-General  Speed, 
who  should  be  a  quite  competent  judge  of 
offensive  matter,  or  what  was  deemed  offen 
sive.  General  Miles  had  returned  to  him 
several  pages  of  a  letter  written  to  Mrs.  Davis, 
containing  only  a  description  of  his  new  prison 
in  answer  to  her  inquiries,  the  General  de- 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  359 

daring  such  description  to  be  objectionable 
perhaps  suspecting  that  if  told  where  he  was 
confined,  Mrs.  Davis  would  storm  the  fort 
and  rescue  him  vi  et  armis.  This  was  both 
absurd  and  cruel — one  of  those  acts  of  petty  * 
tyranny  which  was  without  excuse,  because 
without  any  sufficient  object.  In  regard  to 
attempts  at  escape,  General  Miles  might  give 
himself  no  uneasiness.  Mr.  Davis  desired  a 
trial  both  for  himself  and  cause,  and  if  all  the 
doors  and  gates  of  the  fort  were  thrown 
open  he  would  not  leave.  If  anywhere  in  the 
South  the  Confederate  cause  yet  lived,  the 
thing  would  be  different;  but  as  that  cause 
was  now  wrapped  in  the  shroud  of  a  military 
defeat,  the  only  duty  left  to  him — his  only 
remaining  object — was  to  vindicate  the  action 
of  his  people,  and  his  own  action  as  their 
representative,  by  a  fair  and  public  trial. 

November  ivth. — This  day,  in  consequence 
of  reports  in  some  of  the  papers  that  an  over 
coat  had  been  ordered  for  Mr.  Davis  from 
Mr.  S.  W.  Owen,  his  former  tailor,  doing 
business  at  Washington,  and  a  further  report 


360  The  Prison  Life 

that  I  had  been  the  medium  for  ordering  it, 
the  following  letter  was  sent  to  me : 

Headquarters,  Military  District  of  Fort  Monroe  ) 
Fort  Monroe,  Va.,  November  18,  1865.  j 

SIR: — The  Major-General  commanding  di 
rects  me  to  inquire  of  you  if  any  orders  have 
been  given  by  you,  or  through  you,  for  an 
overcoat  for  Jefferson  Davis  ? 

Such  a  report  has  appeared  in  the  papers 
Very  respectfully, 

A.  V.  HITCHCOCK, 

Captain  and  Provost- Marshal. 

To  which,  on  the  same  date,  I  returned  the 
following  answer : 

Office  of  Post  Surgeon,  Fort  Monroe,  Va.,  I 
November  10,  1865.  } 

CAPTAIN  : — I  have  received  the  communi 
cation  dated  November  loth,  Headquarters 
Military  District,  Fort  Monroe,  in  which  the 
Major-General  commanding,  directs  you  to 
inquire  if  any  orders  have  been  given  by  me, 
or  through  me,  for  an  overcoat  for  Jefferson 
Davis. 

In  reply,  I  would  respectfully  state  that  I 


of  Jefferson  Davis  361 

did  order  a  thick  overcoat,  woollen  drawers, 
and  under-shirts,  for  Jefferson  Davis.  I  found 
as  the  cold  weather  approached  he  needed 
thick  garments,  the  prisoner  being  feeble  in 
health,  and  the  winds  of  the  coast  cold  and 
piercing.  I  have  the  honor  to  be, 

Very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 
(Signed)  JOHN  J.  CRAVEN, 

B'vt  Lieut-Col.,  Surg.  U.S.V 

Capt.  A.  O.  HITCHCOCK,  A.  D.  C. 

That  any  objection  to  my  action  in  the 
matter  should  have  been  made,  was  about  the. 
last  thing  I  should  have  expected — the  pris 
oner's  health  being  under  my  charge,  and 
warm  clothing  for  cold  weather  being  obvi 
ously  one  of  the  first  necessities  to  a  patient 
in  so  feeble  a  condition.  Let  me  add,  that 
Mr.  Davis  had  never  asked  for  the  warm 
clothing  I  deemed  requisite,  and  that  sending 
for  it,  and  insisting  upon  its  acceptance,  had 
been  with  me  a  purely  professional  act.  In 
the  valise  belonging  to  Mr.  Davis,  which  was 

16 


362  The  Prison  Life 

kept  at  the  headquarters  of  General  Miles,  no 
heavy  clothing  could  be  found,  merely  con 
taining  a  few  articles  of  apparel  chiefly  de 
signed  for  the  warm  climate  of  the  South. 
General  Miles,  however,  took  a  different  view 
of  my  action,  to  judge  from  the  following 
letter : 

Headquarters,  Military  District,  Fort  Monroe,  Va.,  ) 
Fort  Monroe,  Va.,  November  18,       1865.  J 

COLONEL  : — The  Major-General  command 
ing  directs  that,  in  future,  you  give  no  orders 
for  Jefferson  Davis,  without  first  communi 
cating  with  these  Head  Districts. 

Also,  that  in  future,  your  conversations 
with  him  will  be  confined  strictly  to  profes 
sional  matters,  and  that  you  comply  with  the 
instructions  regarding  the  meals  to  be  fur 
nished  to  prisoners  Davis  and  Clay,  and  have 
them  delivered  more  promptly.  Also,  report 
the  price  paid  for  Mr.  Davis's  overcoat,  and 
by  whom  paid. 

A.  O.  HITCHCOCK, 

CaptandA.D.C 

B'vt  Lieut.-Col.  J.  J.  CRAVEN, 

Post  Surgeon. 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  363 

This  order  I  then  regarded  as  cruel  and 
unnecessary,  nor  has  subsequent  reflection 
changed  my  opinion.  The  meals  for  Mr. 
Davis  I  had  sent  at  hours  to  suit  his  former 
habits  and  present  desires — two  meals-  a  day 
at  such  time  as  he  felt  most  appetite.  I  was 
now  ordered  to  send  his  meals  three  times  a 
day,  and  at  hours  which  did  not  meet  his 
wishes,  and  were  very  inconvenient  to  my 
family,  his  meals  being  invariably  sent  over 
at  the  same  hour  I  had  mine.  The  order  to 
abstain  from  anything  but  professional  conver 
sation  was  a  yet  greater  medical  hardship,  as 
to  a  man  in  the  nervous  condition  of  Mr. 
Davis,  a  friend  with  whom  he  feels  free  to 
converse  is  a  valuable  relief  from  the  moodi- 
ness  of  silent  reflection.  The  orders,  how 
ever,  I  felt  bound  to  accept  and  carry  out  in 
good  faith ;  and  hence,  from  this  point,  my 
memoir  must  unavoidably  lose  much  of  its 
interest.  The  next  step  in  this  difficulty  will 
be  seen  in  my  annexed  letter,  dated  the  day 
following  the  receipt  of  my  last  communica 
tion  from  General  Miles : 


364  The  Prison  Life 

CAPT.  A.  O.  HITCHCOCK,  A.  D.  C: 

CAPTAIN: — I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge 
the  receipt  of  your  communication  dated  Head 
quarters,  Military  District,  Fort  Monroe,  Va., 
Nov.  1 8,  1865;  and  in  answer  to  your  inquiry 
concerning  the  cost  of  the  coat  ordered  by  me 
for  Mr.  Davis,  I  would  say : 

That  I  do  not  know  the  cost  of  the  coat ;  I 
have  not  yet  received  the  bill.  As  soon  as 
received,  I  will  forward  it  to  the  Major-Gene 
ral  commanding.  I  do  not  know  that  any 
person  paid  for  the  coat,  having  directed  that 
the  bill  should  be  sent  to  me  when  order 
ing  it. 

I  remain,  Captain,  very  respectfully, 
JOHN  J.  CRAVEN, 

Bv't  Lieut-Col,  and  Post  Surg.  and  Chief  Medical  Officer, 
Military  District,  Fort  Monroe,  Va. 

The  next  day — on  the  2Oth,  though  dated 
the  1 7th — I  received  from  Mr.  Owen  the  sub- 
note  in  reply,  as  will  be  seen,  to  a  letter  of 
inquiry  addressed  to  him  some  nine  or  ten 
days  previously: 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  365 

DR.  J.  J.  CRAVEN,  U.  S.  A., 

Chief  Medical  Director, 

Fortress  Monroe,  Va. : 
DEAR  SIR, — In  reply  to  your  favor  of  the 
1 4th  inst.,  I  would  say  the  price  of  the  coat 
sent  you  was  $125  ;  and  as  regards  the  ques 
tion  you  ask  about  who  paid  for  the  coat,  par 
ties  called  at  the  store  and  desired  to  pay 
for  it.  Not  knowing  your  wish  on  that  sub 
ject,  the  money  was  left  here  until  such  time 
as  I  should  hear  from  you  about  payment 
for  it. 

Yours  respectfully, 
(Signed)  S.  W.  OWEN, 

Per  RUSSELL. 

To  conclude  this  correspondence,  the  two 
following  letters  will  explain  themselves : 

Headquarters,  Mil.  Dist.,  Fort  Monroe,  Va., 
December  14,  1865. 

Bv't  Lt.-Col.  J.  J.  CRAVEN, 

Surgeon  U.  S.  V. : 
SIR  : — The  General  commanding  directs  me 


3t>6  The  Prison  Life 

to  ask  if  the  overcoat  furnished  the  prisoner 
Davis  has  been  paid  for. 

I  am,  very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 
JOHN  S.  McEwAN, 

Capt ,  A.  D.  C.,  and  A.  A.  A.  G. 

Fort  Monroe,  Va.,  December  15,  1865. 

Capt.  JOHN  S.  McEwAN, 

A.  D.  C,  and  A.  A.  A.  G. : 

SIR  : — I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the 
receipt  of  your  communication,  bearing  date 
December  i4th,  1865,  stating  that  the  Major- 
General  commanding  directs  you  to  ask  if 
the  overcoat  furnished  Jefferson  Davis  has 
been  paid  for.  In  reply,  I  would  respectfully 
state,  that  parties,  without  my  approval,  know 
ledge,  or  consent,  called  upon  S.  W.  Owen, 
the  tailor,  interfered  and  interested  themselves 
in  the  coat,  leaving  on  deposit  the  price  for 
the  same.  Seeing  the  coat  was  unlike  the 
one  I  had  ordered  (a  plain,  black,  pilot  over 
coat),  I  interested  myself  no  further  in  the 
matter,  leaving  Owen,  the  tailor,  to  receive  or 
refuse  the  money  as  he  saw  fit.  He  has  re- 


°f  Jefferson  Davis.  367 

ceived  no  money  from  me,  neither  did  I  au 
thorize  him  to  receive  the  pay  for  the  over 
coat  from  another. 

I  am,  sir,  very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

JOHN  J.  CRAVEN, 

Brevet  Lieut-Col.,  Surg.  U.  S.  V.,  and  Post  Surgeon. 


368  The  Prison  Life 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 

General  Summary  in  Conclusion. — The  Cha 
racter  of  Mr.  Davis. — Let  us  be  Merci 
ful ! 

AND  now  my  diary  of  a  most  interesting 
patient  ceases,  for  under  the  orders  dated 
November  i8th,  contained  in  the  close  of  the 
preceding  chapter,  I  could  hold  no  conversa 
tion  with  him  except  on  "  strictly  professional 
matters,"  up  to  the  date  of  my  being  relieved 
from  duty  at  the  fort,  which  took  place  near 
the  end  of  December,  1865,  and  these  would 
be  of  no  interest  to  the  public,  even  were  I  at 
liberty  to  reveal  them.  Mr.  Davis  occasion 
ally  suffered  in  health  during  the  last  month 
of  my  remaining  his  medical  attendant,  but 
the  history  of  his  trifling  ailments  per  se,  and 
unrelieved  by  any  conversation,  would  not 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  369 

form  either  a  pleasant  or  amusing  record. 
With  the  officers  of  the  5th  U.  S.  Artillery, 
as  with  his  previous  friends  of  the  3d  Penn 
sylvania,  he  continued  to  have  most  agreeable 
relations — Major  Charles  P.  Muhlenburgh, 
Captain  S.  A.  Day,  and  many  others,  display 
ing  both  generosity  and  consideration  in  their 
treatment  of  the  distinguished  captive.  In 
deed,  it  was  a  remark  which  must  have  been 
forced  on  every  observer,  both  during  the  war 
and  since,  that  it  is  amongst  the  non-belli 
gerents  of  the  North — the  men,  one  would 
think,  with  least  cause  to  hate  or  oppress  our 
recent  Southern  enemies — that  we  must  look 
for  those  who  appear  actuated  by  the  most 
vindictive  feelings. 

It  was  not  my  intention  to  have  published 
this  narrative  until  after  the  trial  of  the  pri 
soner;  but  on  submitting  the  matter  to  friends, 
whose  judgment  I  relied  upon,  it  was  decided 
that  there  was  no  material  in  these  pages 
which  could  bias  or  improperly  interfere  with 
public  opinion,  or  the  due  course  of  justice. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  during  the  past 
1 6* 


370  The  Prison  Life 

year  Mr.  Davis  has  lain  a  silent  prisoner  in 
one  of  our  strongest  forts,  unable  to  reply  by 
so  much  as  a  word  to  the  myriad  assaults 
which  have  been  made  both  on  his  private 
character  and  public  course.  This  is  abso 
lutely  the  first  statement  in  his  favor — if  so  it 
can  be  regarded — which  the  Northern  press 
has  yet  given  to  the  world ;  and  the  case 
against  that  prisoner  must  indeed  be  weak 
which  cannot  bear  allowing  a  single  voice  to 
be  raised  in  his  defence,  while  seven-eighths 
of  the  Northern  journals  have  been  industri 
ously  engaged  in  manufacturing  public  senti 
ment  to  his  injury.  I  know  my  notes  are 
very  imperfect — that  I  have  lost  much  which 
would  have  been  valuable  to  history ;  but  such 
brief  memoirs  as  I  made  were  not  originally 
intended  for  publication,  but  for  my  own 
pleasure  or  instruction,  and  that  of  my  family; 
and  it  has  been  my  conscientious  effort  to 
report  him  as  he  was,  neither  inventing  any 
new  sentiments  to  put  in  his  mouth,  or  sup 
pressing  any  material  views  on  public  ques 
tions  which  appeared  in  my  note-book.  In 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  371 

many  of  the  important  political  conversations, 
let  me  add,  the  words  are  as  nearly  as  possible 
the  exact  language  used  by  Mr.  Davis,  my 
memoranda  upon  such  matters  having  been 
made  as  full  as  possible. 

His  self-control  was  the  feature  of  his  char 
acter,  knowing  that  his  temper  had  been  high 
and  proud,  which  most  struck  me  during  my 
attendance.  His  reticence  was  remarked  on 
subjects  where  he  knew  we  must  differ;  and 
though  occasionally  speaking  with  freedom  of 
slavery,  it  was  as  a  philosopher  rather  than  as 
a  politician — rather  as  a  friend  to  the  negro, 
and  one  sorry  for  his  inevitable  fate  in  the 
future,  than  with  rancor  or  acrimony  against 
those  opponents  of  the  institution  whom  he 
persisted  in  regarding  as  responsible  for  the 
war,  with  all  its  attendant  horrors  and  sacri 
fices.  Of  the  "  abolitionists,"  as  such,  he 
never  spoke,  though  often  of  the  anti-slavery 
sentiment ;  and  he  impressed  me  as  having  in 
good  faith  accepted  the  new  order  of  things 
which  the  late  struggle  and  its  suppression 
have  made  necessary. 


37  -  The  Prison  Life 

The  Southern  States  have  been  essentially 
conquered  by  military  force,  and  now — taking 
the  worst  view  of  the  case — await  such  terms 
as  the  conqueror  may  see  fit  to  impose.  The 
problem  before  all  good  men  in  the  country — 
that  for  which  our  soldiers  and  sailors  poured 
out  their  blood,  and  all  loyal  men  labored  and 
made  sacrifices  in  their  respective  spheres — is 
the  restoration  of  the  Union  as  it  existed  in 
harmony,  glory,  and  prosperity  before  the 
recent  war,  with,  of  course,  such  changes  and 
modifications  as  the  rebellion  may  have 
proved  necessary.  The  writer  believes  it 
will  be  found  that  the  men  who  were  chief 
actors  in  the  late  rebellion,  are  now  the 
promptest  and  most  clear-headed  in  accept 
ing  its  results ;  are  not  only  willing  but  soli 
citous  to  accept  and  forward  all  such  changes 
as  the  new  order  of  things  may  render  requi 
site  ;  passing  a  sponge  over  the  political 
errors  of  the  past,  and  now  only  aiming  to 
direct  their  people  in  the  road  by  which  the 
material  prosperity  and  glory  of  the  Union, 
one  and  undivisible,  may  be  most  quickly 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  373 

secured  for  the  benefit  of  "all  interests  and 
sections. 

Mr.  Davis  is  remarkable  for  the  kindliness 
of  his  nature  and  fidelity  to  friends.  Of  none 
of  God's  creatures  does  he  seem  to  wish  or 
speak  unkindly;  and  the  same  fault  found 
with  Mr.  Lincoln — unwillingness  to  sanction 
the  military  severities  essential  to  maintain 
discipline — is  the  fault  I  have  heard  most 
strongly  urged  against  Mr.  Davis. 

As  for  the  rest,  the  character  of  Mr.  Davis, 
we  believe,  will  receive  justice  in-  history. 
Mistaken  in  devotion  to  a  theory  of  State 
sovereignty,  which,  before  the  recent  war, 
was  all  but  universally  accepted  by  the  peo 
ple  of  both  sections,  he  engaged  reluctantly 
(as  he  says)  in  a  rebellion  for  the  sustainment 
of  his  faith.  He  and  those  who  thought  and 
acted  with  him  have  suffered  terribly  for  that 
error ;  but  it  can  be  neither  magnanimity  nor 
wisdom  to  slander  or  oppress  them  in  their 
moment  of  misfortune.  It  is  by  the  concilia 
tory  and  generous  policy  of  President  An 
drew  Johnson  that  the  bleeding  gashes  of 


374  The  Prison  Life 

the  body  pfolitic  are  to  be  bound  up  and 
healed ;  and  in  a  restoration  .of  the  Union  as 
it  existed  before  the  late  sad  conflict — with 
only  slavery  abolished,  the  rebel  debt  repudi 
ated,  and  the  national  debt  accepted  in  good 
faith — the  aspirations  of  those  who  served  in 
our  army  and  navy  will  be  most  happily  real 
ized.  If  Mr.  Davis  has  been  guilty  of  any 
private  crime,  such  as  connivance  with  the 
assassination  of  Mr.  Lincoln  or  unauthorized 
cruelties  to  our  prisoners,  no  punishment 
can  be  too  heavy  for  him ;  but  let  the  fact  of 
his  guilt  be  established  in  fair  and  open  trial 
If,  on  the  other  hand,  his  only  guilt  has  been 
rebellion,  let  a  great  nation  show  the  truest 
quality  of  greatness — magnanimity — by  includ 
ing  him  in  the  wide  folds  of  that  act  of  am 
nesty  and  oblivion,  in  which  all  his  minor 
partners,  civil  and  military,  in  the  late  Con 
federacy  are  now  so  wisely  enveloped.  Make 
him  a  martyr  and  his  memory  is  dangerous; 
treat  him  with  the  generosity  of  liberation,  and 
he  both  can  and,  we  think,  will  be  a  power 
for  good  in  the  future  of  peace  and  restored 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  375 

prosperity  which  we  hope  for  the  Southern 
States. 

Believing  that  the  views  of  Mr.  Davis  may 
throw  important  light  on  the  true  policy  to 
be  pursued,  the  author  noted  down  all  such 
as  he  could  remember,  or  has  had  made  notes 
of,  as  faithfully  and  as  conscientiously  as  if 
giving  his  evidence  under  oath  in  a  court  of 
justice.  Nowhere  has  he  sought  to  better  by 
concealment  or  misrepresentation  the  actual 
character  or  views  of  the  person  for  whom  he 
confesses  that  his  professional,  and  finally  his 
personal  sympathies,  have  been  warmly  en 
listed ;  and  the  only  points  he  has  been  led 
to  suppress — and  they  have  been  very  few — 
were  such  merely  medical  details  as  neither 
the  public  would  care  for,  nor  any  physician  be 
authorized  to  expose.  "  Be  just  even  to  your 
enemies,"  is  not  only  one  of  the  noblest,  but 
wisest  maxims  which  antiquity  has  left  us  ; 
and  there  is  another  like  unto  it :  "  It  is  law 
ful,  even  from  your  enemies,  to  learn  wis 
dom." 

And  now  with  some  few  suggestive  ques- 


The  Prison  Life 

tions,  this  final  chapter  will  be  brought  to  a 
close. 

Has  any  evidence  yet  brought  before  the 
Reconstruction  Committee  of  our  Congress 
been  franker,  clearer,  more  evidently  honest, 
or  more  heartily  aiming  to  bring  before  the 
country  the  actual  needs,  wishes,  and  aspira 
tions  of  the  South  than  that  of  such  gentlemen 
as  Robert  E.  Lee,  Alexander  H.  Stephens,  and 
the  other  late  leaders  of  the  rebellion,  who 
have  been  examined,  and  whose  testimony 
has  been  spread  before  the  public  ?  And  has 
there  not  been  manifest  in  all  such  testimony 
yet  taken,  an  unreserved  acquiescence  in  the 
results  of  the  recent  war,  and  a  very  earnest 
desire  to  restore  the  relations  of  the  Union 
on  a  basis  of  harmony,  good  faith,  and  future 
complete  assimilation  of  interests  and  institu 
tions  which  shall  endure  for  ever?  The  in 
telligent  of  the  beaten  rebels  are  to-day,  and 
likely  to  remain,  as  faithful  supporters  of  the 
Union  as  can  be  found  on  the  face  of  the 
globe — is  not  this  conceded  ?  And  while  the 
opinions  of  the  gentlemen  examined  have  been 


of  Jefferson  Davis.  377 

regarded  and  treated  by  the  highest  authority 
as  of  deserved  importance  in  aiding  us  to 
solve  the  problem  of  reconstruction — can  it 
be  wise,  we  ask,  that  those  of  Mr.  Davis,  their 
confessedly  ablest  leader  in  the  political  field, 
and  the  man  most  powerful  over  the  affec 
tions  and  confidence  of  the  Southern  masses, 
should  be  now  ignored  in  silence,  or  for  ever 
suppressed  in  the  silent  cell  of  an  untried  and 
unconvicted  imprisonment?  For  the  crime 
of  treason,  not  one  of  these — not  the  humblest 
official  under  the  late  rebellion — was  one  whit 
more  or  less  guilty  than  the  man  whom  they 
elected  their  titular  President ;  and  if  any 
other  crimes  can  be  alleged  against  him,  in 
the  name  of  justice,  and  for  the  honor  of  our 
whole  country,  both  now  and  in  the  hereafter, 
are  not  his  friends  and  suffering  family  enti 
tled  to  demand  that  he  may  have  an  early 
and  impartial  trial  as  provided  by  the  lawrs  of 
our  country? 

THE    END. 


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